"Why didn't you hang up last night?" Aiden asks angrily as soon as he enters Graham's car.
"You didn't want me to hang up", the brown-haired man justifies with worry all over his features. "Was it wrong?"
"Yes. I mean, no. It's just that you should have known that my phone would run out of battery", he states with annoyance after closing the door. "I was almost late for work!"
Graham smiles at that response, finding slightly funny the reason why Aiden is angry with him.
"But you arrived on time, didn't you?"
"Yes", he replies with a scoff. "But not thanks to you."
"Well, you should keep your phone charging next time."
"What do you mean? Aren't you going to apologize? I could have been fired because of that", the chef explains while putting on the seatbelt.
"Aren't you exaggerating just a little bit?"
"You say that because your phone was surely completely charged when you woke up." He points at Graham with his left hand, exposing the dark bruises over his skin.
Unfortunately for the youngest, the light inside the vehicle hasn't turned off yet. This allows the driver to notice the purple marks with ease.
"What happened? Are you ok?" Larson asks while carefully taking his hand and examining it closely.
"Yes, uhm I just hit my hand with something while cleaning my house yesterday", he replies with a forced smile, hating the idea of lying but knowing that telling the truth could be much worse. "It doesn't hurt, so please don't worry."
"I swear you're too clumsy sometimes", Graham replies while bringing the injured hand close to his lips.
Aiden's heart pounds faster in his chest when feeling the gentle kiss. He never thought Larson would make the first move but he likes it.
"I should have bruises on my lips next time we meet."
Graham clears his throat at the thought of that. Then, he places both of his hands on the steering wheel and gets ready to begin the ride.
"I think we should leave now or we'll miss the first minutes of the movie."
"Yeah, you're right."
Aiden plays his music as they drive to the cinema. The streets are still a little crowded, but it takes them just fifteen minutes to arrive at their destination.
They leave the car in the parking lot and start walking to the establishment. Aiden takes his companion's hand without realizing, only letting go of him when he's about to pay for the food they bought.
"Do you want anything else?" Aiden asks, trying his best to not spill the sodas on the tray he's holding.
Graham smiles widely at the sight, offering his help before leading the way to the room where the movie will be played.
"You're cute but let me help before you hurt yourself."
"You didn't reply to my question." The red-haired man states while letting him carry everything but a bag of candies.
"If you want an answer so badly, then no. I already have everything I want here", he says while looking dearly at his lover.
"Shut up, that's so cheesy."
"I thought you wanted to hear that."
"Yes, but you're just saying it to make me feel flustered."
"Is it working?"
Millers shakes his head and looks at Graham, who is just an inch taller than him.
"Of course it is working."
Larson's smile grows wider as they continue walking. Aiden would like to kiss his cheek as an act of revenge. However, he thinks it may be too fast to do something like that.
Eventually, he decides to not make that move yet. After all, he wouldn't want to make him feel uncomfortable when their time together has just started.
The couple of men are soon sitting on their preferred seats in the room, realizing that they may be the only ones who will watch the movie tonight.
"May I know the title of the movie now?" Millers asks as the advertisements start playing on the screen.
"No. You'll know when it begins."
Aiden pouts but he doesn't argue back. Instead, he leaves the bag of candies on the tray and takes a pair of popcorn with his fingers.
"Why are you especially frisky tonight?"
"Why are you especially adorable tonight?" Graham smugly asks, provoking Millers to throw the popcorn at him.
"Stop. Seriously."
"Will you throw all the snacks at me if I don't stop?"
"Of course not. It would be like throwing food in the trash can", Aiden says jokingly before taking a sip of his soda.
"What did you say?"
"Oh, look. The movie is about to begin."
All Graham can do is chuckle once again and watch the lights of the room become dimmer.
To be honest, Larson isn't excited to watch the movie at all. He isn't interested in knowing the story of a naive teenager who falls in love with a vampire.
Millers, on the other hand, is really curious to see what the film has to offer. Even though he is excited to know how the plot unfolds, he is confident that nothing will match the reality he knows.
And that's exactly what happens.
Every time any of the vampires in the movie expresses their feelings for someone else, Aiden laughs to himself as quietly as possible.
Whenever the vampire's eyes are described as heavenly, he scoffs in disbelief, shaking his head while eating his candies.
And when the main character's skin starts glowing as he walks shirtless under the sunlight, he completely loses it.
Graham doesn't really know what to think about all of those reactions. While he's happy to see his companion smile, he's extremely confused about what it is that Aiden finds so funny. Especially during the scenes that were supposed to provoke tears of sadness.
His doubts aren't clarified, though, until the movie finishes and they're back inside the car.
"Did you like the movie?" The tallest asks with pure curiosity in his voice.
"I enjoyed it, yes."
"Really? You kept making fun of it over and over again. I'm so glad we came to the movies when no one else did, otherwise we might have been kicked out."
"Oh, look who's exaggerating now."
"I'm not exaggerating. It was supposed to be a romantic movie yet you thought it was pure comedy."
"It was pure comedy! There was no realism whatsoever!"
"That's because vampires aren't real", Graham states while starting the engine.
Aiden opens his mouth to say that he is very wrong. However, he thinks about it before letting a word spill from his lips. He must be careful to not reveal too much.
"You're right, but if they were real they wouldn't be wandering around without murdering anyone. Plus, that guy was clearly not in love with her. He was just drawn to her blood."
"So you think vampires can't be attracted to anyone." He concludes as they exit the parking lot.
"I don't know, but I believe that if they felt love for someone, their natural instinct would eventually make them kill that person. Even if they don't want to."
"I guess you're right, but what about all the other parts that you laughed at?"
"Come on, even you should know how dumb it would be if a vampire really looked all glittery under the sunlight."
Graham snorts at that because it was the only part when he understood Aiden's reaction. Vampires are supposed to be powerful creatures of the night. It makes no sense that the only reason why they don't go out during the day is because their skin glows under the sunlight like a disco ball.
"You're right. Humans are supposed to be afraid of vampires. They're our predators after all."
"See? Ninety five percent of that movie was nonsense."
"What about the other five percent?"
"I think the way they killed vampires was almost believable."
"Are you an expert now?"
Aiden looks through the window. They have almost arrived at his apartment block, which means that he could easily avoid answering that question. However, it would be good if Graham knew at least how to defend himself against a vampire.
"You could say so."
"Enlighten me, please. In a fictional world where vampires exist, how am I supposed to kill them?"
"Well, you could debilitate a vampire with garlic, a religious artifact, or a weapon made of silver. Then, you'd have to burn it alive until the body reduces to ashes."
"Garlic? Is it like an allergy?"
"I guess. I'm not really sure. I just read somewhere that if it gets inside their body, it's almost deadly to them."
"Ok so anyone could kill a vampire, then", Graham states while parking right outside the building where Millers lives.
"Not really. For a man like you, for example, it would be very difficult. You'd only be safe at home because they can't enter without your permission."
"Wait, are you calling me weak?" He asks with a scoff, turning off the engine and centering his attention on the man to his right.
"No." The red-haired man shakes his head in negation. "I mean that you're too skeptical. A vampire could easily mesmerize you into doing whatever they want if you aren't careful with that."
"Mesmerize? How does that even work?"
Aiden unfastens his seatbelt and shifts on the seat to look directly at Graham.
"Imagine that I'm a vampire."
"That's really hard for me to imagine, but I'll try."
"Alright. If you look me in the eyes for too long, you should start losing track of your surroundings." He leans closer to Larson slowly.
"For how long must we look at each other?"
"Sometimes 7 seconds is enough. Sometimes more. It depends on the vampire's power."
"Are you a powerful vampire?"
"Yes. I've been like this for thousands of years. Newly transformed vampires are nothing compared to me."
"That may explain why I find your voice so appealing."
"It's angelical, isn't it?"
"It truly is."
Graham is too lost in the green irises that absorb his attention to realize that he's closing the distance between them too.
Their faces are just inches apart when Aiden decides that it's been enough for a demonstration.
"Before you know it", the younger male says right before lowering his head and leaning to the left, barely touching Graham's neck with his lips as he speaks. "I'll be drinking all your blood."
The brown-haired man blinks a couple of times, taking a deep breath to calm his racing heart as Aiden pulls back with a smirk on his face.
"That's a very effective way to lure their prey", he says without breaking eye contact.
"I know."
"You are really mesmerizing, not gonna lie."
"You just proved my point. If you were bewildered this much with my charms, I don't think you can stand a chance against a vampire."
Graham regains his composure after a few seconds of silence.
"Good news is that vampires aren't real, right?" He asks with a chuckle, his heartbeat still faster than usual.
Aiden's smile fades for just a moment as he decides to leave the topic behind before revealing much more information. He has already told Larson what to do if he ever happens to be attacked by one of those creatures, so there's nothing left to say about it.
"Of course", he reassures. "It would be very frightening to live in a world where vampires existed."
"At least you wouldn't be the first one to die, apparently."
Aiden laughs dearly at that comment before pecking Graham on the cheek.
"I would never let them hurt you, though. I promise."