Parting is such a sweet sorrow {THE LITTLE VAMPIRE}

Did my heart fly at your service

Notes:  This chapter includes a few lines in German, and I took a year of German a few years ago (so I'm not totally useless), but if any German speakers have corrections for me, I would be eternally grateful.

"Wow." Tony's eyes widened and his jaw dropped as two tuxedoed, vampire doormen opened large double doors to reveal the fanciest ballroom he had ever seen. Massive, sparkling chandeliers hung from the ceiling, which was three-stories high and painted with clouds and little cherubs. White and gold Grecian pillars held up the ceiling. Tables with white tablecloths occupied one half of the room, and elegantly dressed vampire couples waltzed about the other side of the room, many of them dancing in the air, accompanied by a string quartet. A running fountain covered in pink roses centered the scene. Tony flushed. He felt underdressed.

"Do you like it?" Rudolph asked, squeezing Tony's hand. Tony nodded, unable to speak just yet.

"Gestatten Sie mir, Ihnen Ihren Tisch zu zeigen." Said a tall vampire woman in a black dress with a tight, blonde bun. Tony looked at Rudolph with mild panic in his eyes.

"Er ist Amerikaner." Rudolph said to the hostess, nodding toward Tony. She held her hands to her heart.

"Oh, how cute." The hostess looked at Tony's giant bouquet in his right hand, and then at Tony's left hand clasped with Rudolph's. The mortal's stomach clenched. Was she going to say something mean? Maybe they'd get kicked out. But, no. She just smiled at them and said, "Right this way."

"Don't worry, no one will try to eat you." Rudolph whispered to Tony on the way to their table. "Everyone knows you're the brave mortal who saved our clan."

Tony had completely forgotten that vampires would find his blood delicious. He was too worried someone would take issue with the fact that he was a boy holding hands with another boy.

"Here you are." The hostess presented a table in the far-left corner of the room with a perfect view of the fountain, dancers, and the string quartet. It was set with wine glasses for two, but only one plate and silverware set.

"May we get a vase for the roses?" Rudolph asked.

"Of course." The hostess took the roses from Tony, still smiling, and trotted off.

Rudolph pulled out Tony's chair, and the mortal's ears burned. He'd seen men do that for women in movies before, but he never imagined someone would do that for him. Especially not a boy.

Right. So, this made Tony bi. That was kind of a scary thought, but it wasn't the first time he considered the possibility that he might not be totally straight. Last year, at the dentist, he'd read an article in a teen magazine about a girl who realized she was in love with her female best friend. It scared Tony, because he could picture the same thing happening to him, but he consoled himself with the fact that he happened to have a little crush on a girl in his class at the time. Now that he was being forced to think about it, Tony had a few crushes on boys before, but he'd written them off as friend crushes, and he'd never really considered dating a boy until now.

"Are you going to sit down?" Rudolph raised an eyebrow. Oh, god. How long had Tony just been standing there?

"Sorry!" He sat down and squeaked when Rudolph lifted the entire chair with Tony in it to push it back in.

The vampire slid into the seat across from Tony and smoothed out the tablecloth in front of him. Tony wondered if Rudolph knew how handsome he was, without a reflection and all. His sharp facial features made him look like a hero from one of Tony's comic books, and his eyes . . . Rudolph's deep, maroon eyes met Tony's, and the mortal's stomach swooped. He looked down at his plate.