You Are the Shell to My Tortoise | ✓

67

I breathed in the cool forest air surrounding us, feeling totally cozy and warm in my favorite peach-colored hoodie. The moment was perfect, with Nolan's arm around me and Blue hopping around on his lap.

"Chelsea," he said, withdrawing his arm and shifting a little away from me. "I need to tell you something."

The cold air swiftly swooped in to take his place, and I shivered slightly. I missed his warmth already, although I knew that it technically wasn't his body heat.

"Well, that doesn't sound ominous at all," I said, turning to him. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

The moonlight was pretty bright tonight, so I could see the solemn expression on his face.

Everything had been smooth sailing between us since we became official. It wouldn't make sense for him to take me to the forest just to dump me, right?

He shook his head. "No, nothing's wrong."

"Can't you just tell me without removing your arm, then?" I said, attempting a smile.

My stomach tightened.

"It's better that we can face each other while talking," he said. "This is kind of serious. No, actually, this is very serious."

"Um, okay. Can you just say it? Please don't keep me in suspense."

"I will," he said. "I just need to say something else first—Chelsea, we've been together for a few months now, but before this I never thought we would even start dating, let alone get to this stage."

As he talked, I felt my frown grow deeper and deeper. What exactly was he trying to get at?

"I was never going to tell you that I was a vampire on my own. If you hadn't seen me transform that day, I'd never have told you I liked you. I was sure you'd run away screaming if you found out, so I wanted to ensure that you would never find out. That was why I never wanted to tell you how I felt. There was no way I could keep it a secret forever if we became more than friends."

That explained the way he admitted his feelings in such a harsh manner after I saw him turn from a bat. Before, he'd never even remotely hinted at it. This wasn't something I'd given much consideration to after he asked me out, since I was so happy that we were finally together.

"I get that," I said. "Why are you telling me this now, though?"

"I want you to at least know why I haven't told you this yet. Sometimes I'm still in disbelief that we're together, that this isn't all a dream." He looked down at his hands. "Sometimes, I get up from bed convinced that I've finally woken up this time, and the dream is over."

"I'll get mad if you say things like that," I said, reaching over to grasp his hand. "This is reality. Do you need a pinch to help you realize that?"

His laughter spilled out into the cold night air, and the corners of his lips twitched upwards, but I noticed that he was still avoiding eye contact with me.

"I appreciate the offer," he said, squeezing my hand back. "Not sure if that will cure me permanently, though."

"Hey. What's wrong?" I asked.

After a short pause, he said, "Nothing. My real last name isn't Rowe."

"Wait. What?"

That was so abrupt, I didn't even care that I totally looked like a gaping goldfish right now.

"Yeah," he said, finally turning his gaze on me. "I lied. Sorry. I didn't think you'd need to know something like that back then, so I just gave you the last name I used to enroll at this school."