Love Bites

There was a loud thumping downstairs at the front door and it just about pissed me off. I ignored it, shoving my head under my pillows until my Galaxy started buzzing on the nightstand. In annoyance, I reached out for it only to see a name I hadn’t read in ages flashing across my screen. “Hullo?” I answered.


“Oli, is that you? Great. Come open this damned door!” demanded a mechanical voice belonging to Danny Warsnop. “It’s too hot outside for you to just leave me standing here-“


“I think you’re allowed to come in,” I yawned, burying myself back under the blankets. My mind suddenly told me I was forgetting something but I couldn’t think of what it was.


“My hands are full, Sykes. Even if I wanted to-“


“Danny, I’m in bed,” I whined, rolling over in bed. What the Hell did I need to remember?


“Oli mate, you can crawl down here for a few moments to open the door. I’m sure your guests won’t mind.”


“Guests?” I questioned. The only cars we had were Beau Bokan’s Jeep and the Craigs’ little black piece of scrap metal. All my vehicles were in the carriage house, but it’s not like Danny didn’t know that.


“Yeah. There’s a little black car, Beau’s Jeep, and a black Impala-“


“What the Hell? What does the Impala look like?” I demanded, already knowing exactly what it looked like. It had a nice spoiler, dual exhaust, a custom thin silver stripe down the sides, a silver crucifix hanging from the rear view mirror, all of which Danny reeled off in perfect detail. I threw myself out of bed, not bothering to put on a shirt since I was already wearing pajama pants-what more did I need?- and stormed out of my room. Thorne’s door was shut but I didn’t mind. I didn’t mind one tiny bit, not even when I kicked a hole through it and nearly ripped it off its hinges. Thorne bolted up in bed as Ballsack, Andy fucking Ballsack leapt to her defense.


“Thorne, what the Hell is this?!” I wailed, throwing my phone and Danny’s quizzical voice to the side. This was what I needed to remember. The fact that Thorne had left last night for who only knows why.


“Oliver, you let her walk out last night,” Andy stated, stepping between me and Thorne. “You-anything could’ve happened to her and you just let her march on out there!” He looked flustered but I didn’t care. As any kind host would do, I shoved Andy aside and reached for Thorne.


“Are you okay? What did he touch?” I questioned, inspecting her sickly skin for marks. “Don’t you ever leave my house like that again, do you understand?”


“Oli, I’m fine,” Thorne exclaimed awkwardly.


“No thanks to you,” Andy pointed out. “You threw some shit fit last night and that’s why she left-“


“She left because she can’t handle the fact that I’m older than her and thus have more life experience,” I barked. “Thorne, dear, you-“


“Instead of boasting about your disgusting pussy conquests, why don’t you try making her feel-“


“I didn’t say anything about the number of people I’ve been with,” I growled. “Ballsack, I will rip your goddamn neck out if you-“


“What the Hell is going on here?” Andy, Thorne, and I turned to see Nikki with a crowbar in hand as Valerie gingerly stepped over the remnants of my door.


Andy shrugged. “Nothing. Nothing except Oliver doesn’t want to recognize it’s his fault I had to save Thorne’s life last night from whoever was lurking around the park.”


“There was a hunter?!” I gasped. No. No, there couldn’t be. The Right hadn’t been on Thorne for very long. Nobody could’ve come that fast for her and she would’ve woken me up to tell me if she even thought there was.


Andy smirked with an I-told-you-so look that I wanted to desperately to smack off of his smug face. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure it was probably Nicholas Matthews. He’s kind of a weirdo.” I frowned and pulled Thorne closer to my chest. She was mine, not Andy’s. Not Nicholas’s. Not Danny’s. Despite how much she pleaded with me that she was fine, I decided now was the time for my rules to be set into play. She wouldn’t be out of my eye sight. She would always be near a safe spot. She wouldn’t be going out unless I accompanied her. Regardless of what we were or weren’t, she was mine and I planned on keeping it that way.


“Hello, is anyone there?” questioned Danny’s mechanized voice. The volume from the phone and the quiet in the room brought me back to why I’d initially woken up in the first place; Danny.


“Be there in a second,” I yelled. I looked at everyone in turn before speaking. “This is my home. We play by my rules,” I said firmly. “Andy, you leave. Nikki, I’ll be giving the work assignments to you as Thorne may no longer leave without my permission. Valerie, we have business paperwork we need to work out. Thorne, you will stay here and-“


“This is bull shit,” Andy sighed. “You let her go and I found Thorne so that means-“


“I didn’t cast her out of the house. She chose to leave,” I corrected. “Thus, she’s still technically mine. And I already decided to keep her here, sealing my decision in terms of the Right. All you did was bring her back to me. Anyway, Danny’s downstairs waiting for us. Let’s go greet him.” I stood up, still in my flannel pajama pants and brought Thorne with me. Her very confused siblings followed, Andy bringing up the rear. The five of us marched down the hall and downstairs to the front door that I graciously opened. In stepped Danny Robert Worsnop, fully bearded, hair a trifle mess, and dressed like he’d just walked out of Steven Tyler’s Autumnal wardrobe.


“How’s my favourite senior citizen doing?!” Danny beamed, tossing his bags to the ground. He threw himself around my middle before pulling back to clap my shoulder.


“Better than the average ones,” I replied, giving him a smile. “Did you come by plane this time?”


“Oh yes. Much better. Ships are by far the worst ways to go though they’re much nicer-“


“Who’s this?” Valerie asked, standing a little to the side. Danny looked to her, then to Thorne and lastly Nikki.


“I’m Danny, Oli’s mate from Beverly, England. Survived the Titanic, I did-“


“Only because you turned before it sank, otherwise you’d be dead,” I reminded him. Danny argued in his defense while I nudged his bags inside with my foot. Andy stood silently by the banister, well aware that he was now outnumbered.


“Oi, Andy’s here!” Danny grinned. “How goes the slaying, mate?”


Andy looked to the ground before meeting Danny’s eyes. “Good, I guess. Trying to keep Oliver controlled.”


“I heard about what you did to Mitch. I’m surprised you two are together like this. Who are these fleshies?”


I placed a firm hand on Thorne’s shoulder. “Danny, these are my houseguests Thorne, Nikki, and Valerie,” I informed. “They’re body snatchers.”


“And don’t mind Oliver’s over possessiveness with Thorne,” Andy scoffed. “The Right of Blood’s been instated.”


“Can we stop saying that?” Thorne demanded.


“I try not to meddle in it too much myself,” Danny shrugged. “The Right’s just too messy. Do you know who complained? It’s so dumb. Richards hates people who complain so he just never-“


“Is Richards your Community head?” Valerie asked.


“Yeah, Keith Richards,” Danny nodded. “Anyway, he doesn’t take complaints. Oli, move back home. You’ll love the English winter galas-“


“I rather like how warm it is here,” I interrupted. “Danny, can I take your bags and show you upstairs?”


The brown haired Englishman clapped his hands together and smiled. “Of course, Oli. Andy, go to the wine cellar and pick out one of Oli’s red ones.”


“You don’t have to do that,” I said to Andrew. “You’ll be leaving now, correct?”


Andy folded his arms and glowered. “I’m not leaving without Thorne,” he stated pointedly.


“Well, you’re not leaving with her either,” I informed, reaching down for Danny’s designer suitcases. “C’mon, Thorne. We’re-“


“I’m not a dog,” Thorne hissed. “I can make my own decisions, especially when it comes to which undead thing I want protecting me. So far, Andy’s looking better than you, Oliver, since he hasn’t bitten me.”


“OmiGod, I thought we were over that!” I groaned. “You have to stay here with me. Andy might turn on you the moment you leave this house-“


“But I didn’t!” Andy interrupted.


“But as long as he’s here in your house, Andy has to play by your rules,” Thorne pointed out. “He doesn’t like you and you don’t like him. I want him here in case you try doing something. And if you’re right about Andy, then take him out the moment he looks at Valerie funny. It works both ways.”


I locked eyes with Andy. As much as I didn’t want to turn my home into a flop house, let alone one for vampire slayers, there were perks to this arrangement. I had Danny to help me should Andy do something rash. I knew this house better than he did, secret passages, servants’ stairs, and all. I’d be able to keep my Thorne and make sure he didn’t do anything to her, as I’d be right here at all times. Before heading upstairs with Danny’s bags, I shrugged to both Thorne and Andy. “I’m okay with it as long as Andy is,” I decided.


Thorne turned to the slayer, who relented. “The moment he creeps into my room while I’m sleeping, I’m staking him in the heart,” Andy growled. Thorne seemed pleased enough and left everyone alone in the entry hall to go watch TV. Valerie opted to go to my office and check out the paperwork for the shop while Nikki crawled back in bed.


“Well, they’re a fun bunch, eh?” Danny asked, following me up the stairs.


I rolled my eyes and found his favourite room, third door on the right when you just reach the stair top. “Better than a barrel full of monkeys,” I muttered. Danny looked at me sympathetically as he fell into a wing backed arm chair.


“Thorne can’t stay mad at you forever,” he said. “I’m sure your girlfriend will figure herself out in no time-“


“Girlfriend?” I repeated. “Thorne’s hardly my girlfriend-“


“Well, you sure do look at her funny then,” Danny laughed. I got a fluttery feeling in my stomach that I normally got when Thorne was brought up. It’s not that I didn’t want to be with her, she was just way younger than me and thus much less mature. I also didn’t know if I could handle watching anyone I was so close to age and die in what would feel like a matter of minutes while I went on to live another 600 years. Danny of course, didn’t understand this logic and insisted on teasing me about it.


“Oli’s got a girlfriend!” he squealed happily. “Oli’s got a girlfriend.”


“Danny,” I grumbled. He laughed hysterically and kept chanting. He was only going to stay here for two weeks but damn, I just knew it would be a long two weeks.

Notes

What?! This asshole finally updated?! What?! You know what, I'm gonna do a double update because I feel like a fucking schmuck and this'll be my lame attempt to make it up to anybody still reading this :)