Adolescent Foolishness (A Fearless Vampire Killers Fanfiction)

Chapter Fifteen

I smile to myself as I slow the van to a stop outside Aryssandra's house, memories of this afternoon's blissful events sticking in my mind. Shane and I ended up spending the vast majority of the afternoon at the beach, until I noticed the time and, of course, had to make an excuse for having to be back in Bristol before seven o'clock.

But, of course... I smile grimly as I think about what I'm going to have to do in a moment, and honk the horn as I groan loudly in distress and close my eyes. It takes only a few short moments for the passenger-side door to open and close again, and, opening my eyes and glancing to the side, I see that Aryssandra is smiling sweetly at me. My stomach does a somersault at the sheer sight, and guilt floods through me. I'm doing this for Shane. My Timid. This is for Barrone.

"Hi, Drew." She smiles over at me. "So, what are we doing to do?"

Correction: what am I going to do? I'm so screwed...

"Well," I say forcefully, "I kind of need to talk to you about something first. It's really...well, really quite important." She nods slowly, looking suddenly quite suspicious. "About...well, this." I motion between the pair of us, watching her expression change from suspicion to worry to utter anxiety. My stomach flops at the mere sight. I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't do this. No, I can't hurt her... "Well, what happens after I go back to London?" Damn. Why can't I do this?!

She looks slightly less worried now, and instead now just looks thoughtful. "Well, that depends...are we even a thing, or..." That's a damn good question, actually. I just shrug.

"I guess."

"Well...after I go back to London, do you want to stay a thing, or what? Just I've never been good at this long distance thing." She admits rather shamefully.

"I've never tried long distance." I say thoughtfully, smiling slightly. "I've never needed to." Then I meet her gaze, smiling slightly. "But, well...London isn't that far away."

"It's almost on the other side of the country." She says pointedly I shrug.

"Well, we could still try long distance. I mean, if you think it'll be worth it." I tell her. She smiles again, nodding.

"I think it's worth it." She tells me. Her aqua eyes glimmer with something, and my heart skips a beat. Damn, she's beautiful.

"I'm really punching above my weight with you." I grin. She laughs, her laugh coming out as a wonderfully melodious ring. Damn, she has a nice laugh...

"Should we go somewhere, then?" She suggests. I nod, shifting the van into gear and starting down the road again.

* * *

"Yo! I'm ba-ack!" I call as I close the front door over, practically skipping into the front room. "Did someone die or something?" I glance around the dimly-lit room to see that Crilly is on the floor, playing with his cats, and Falkor is on his laptop, typing furiously as he and Laurence talk between themselves about their writing. Jim, Luke and Nico are nowhere to be seen, although I can hear singing from in the back garden. Kier groans, flopping his head onto the floor, and Barrone pats his face sympathetically.

Laurence glances up at me almost as soon as I've spoken. "Did you sort everything, Wooly?"

I hesitate for a moment; what can I tell him? 'No, I felt bad, so I'm still seeing Arys!' Or do I lie? "Well..." His accusing glare has me feeling even more conflicted, and there seems to be only one clear option: lie. "It took a while, but I eventually got it all figured out."

"Good." He shoots me a wide grin, and my own returning smile is rather forced. Barrone looks up at me, smiling sweetly, and my cheeks flush slightly pink. A nervous laugh escapes my mouth, and before anyone can say anything I'm bolting from the room, bursting into the bathroom and locking the door behind me. I flop face first into the cold, tiled flooring, groaning loudly.

"Why am I such a prat?" I groan.

"Are you okay, Wooly?" I hear someone ask on the other side of the door: Shane. Dammit!

"I'm fine." I say, all too quickly. "Just feel sick." Well, that's not a lie, strictly speaking...the thought of this whole ordeal is already making me feel sick.

"Well...can I speak to you about something?" I go to nod, but then realise I've over-estimated his abilities: he can't see through doors... Instead, I wriggle over towards the door, reaching up and unlocking and opening the door. Shane looks down at me in curiosity, a small smile spread across his lips. "Why are you on the floor...?" He questions, sounding slightly bemused. I groan, hiding my face in my arms.

"I am a terrible human." I whine. Shane sighs, and I hear the door close, the lock turning before he ruffles my hair sympathetically.

"No, you're not." He pauses for a moment. "Laurence told me everything. I...I just can't believe you did that for me." I look up at him, and he smiles reassuringly. My heart drops into my stomach at that; he thinks I broke up with Aryssandra...shit. "No one's ever done anything like that for me."

I groan, hiding my face in my arms again. "I'm a bad person."

"Breaking up with her doesn't make you a bad person, Drew." But I didn't break up with her, did I?! I'm lying to everyone because I couldn't bring myself to break up with her. I want to tell Shane the truth, but I know it'll only hurt him, and I don't want to hurt my Timid. "To be honest, I... Well, I know I'm being selfish, but I've just...I've just got you. I don't want to let you go." I look up at him, and his face flushes red, glasses steaming up. "I...I mean, I-"

"Wait." I push up into a sitting position, my heart thundering and my breath jarring in my throat as I study him. "I...I need to know something, and I need to know the truth. How long have you liked me, Shane?"

He blinks in surprise, glasses still foggy and face still red. "I...I already told you. A while."

"Shane. Please." I plead. "I need to know."

He takes off his glasses, looking down at the floor, his shaggy fair covering his face. "Remember when we were younger, and we were climbing that tree in the park?" I cast my mind back, and rack my brains to remember that. "We were fifteen, and it was the day before our sixteenth birthday. We were talking about what we wanted our birthday to be like." Oh, now I remember... We were acting like little kids, laughing about what deranged fantasies we had for our party. "You kept yelling about hookers and ice cream, and about a girl you liked that was coming to the party. And I...well, I felt jealous. I didn't know why. That's when I realised I liked you."

Since we were fifteen?! He's liked me for nine years?! And I never noticed?! "Oh. I..."

"I didn't want you to find you, but I had to tell you. And well...I had to play dumb, pretend I'd only come to terms with it." He reaches up nervously, pushing the hair back from my face. "I...I didn't want to overwhelm you, I guess." Oh...he's like me for nine years, and he's always put me first? "Can I...?" He needs to ask? I just nod, and he moves to lean in, before stopping in his tracks. "I...I don't think I...I mean, I..." He lets go of me, standing up quickly. "Sorry, but...well, I..." His face flushes bright red, but before he can leave the bathroom I grab his wrist, pushing to my feet quickly. He turns to look at me, his eyes wide and expectant, and I quickly lean in, closing my eyes and crushing my lips against his. He, for a moment, is unresponsive, before he respond to my kiss, his hands moving to rest on my hips. After a moment I pull away, face burning with embarrassment as I look at him.

"I want to ask you something." I say. He just nods. "Shane, will...I mean, would you...uh...will you be my...my b-boyfriend?" I splutter nervously, the words unfamiliar as they tumble out of my mouth. He smiles sweetly down at me.

"I...yes, of course!" I smile at his response as he bounces forward, his arms wrapping tight around my neck as he hugs me. I just stare blankly ahead of me, bewildered by what I just said. I just keep digging myself a deeper hole...dammit.

Now just to figure out how to deal with this whole situation, and maybe I'll be happy with Shane after all. Drew Woolnough, you slut...

* * *

[Author's Message]

I haven't updated in a while, I completely put uploads out of my head for a while. Guess I just haven't done much writing recently. I wrote another chapter for this, over the last couple of days whilst walking to and from school, so I'll edit and upload that sometime soon. Well, hopefully soon! Feedback would be larvely, by the way; it always makes my day when I get lovely feedback :3

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