"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring."

'You look exhausted'

Celia studied Adam's face as he nursed a hot cup of tea.

'yeah…I didn't get much sleep last night'

True.

'Oh right…what did you do? After I left'

'um…' Adam's mind flashed back to the previous night. He tried not to smile.

'I watched some crap film on telly'

False.

'Where did Christa sleep then?'

'In my room'

True.

'Where did you sleep?'

Adam shrugged.

'Dozed off every now and again in the living room'

False.

'What's with all the questions anyway?'

Celia's gaze drifted away from him.

'Celia?'

She didn't move.

'Are you…paranoid?'

'NO!'

She snapped back, folding her arms.

'I was joking…calm down'

Her eyes narrowed.

'Calm down? I just wanted wanted to know. I have every right'

'I don't want to do this again'

Celia sighed and turned back to him.

'Neither do I'

'Great!'

Adam clapped his hands together and smiled mechanically at her. She huffed then headed for the door.

'I'm going out'

'Where?'

'…the shops'

'Oh. Okay. See you in a bit'

'Yeah'

Celia disappeared from the room quietly. Well, that was awkward. Adam had no idea what he could do next, everything seemed to be a bit of a blur. A dream. There was this feeling in the pit of his stomach that Celia would find out someday, about what had happened between him and Christa. But that's the thing that scared him more than anything. He didn't know if he liked Christa in that way. Sure, he still had a thing for her. But he thought that maybe…maybe he liked the risk more. The fact that he was cheating on Celia. The looseness of it all, the freedom. No strings attached. He didn't want to go back to the mess the last time they were together. The breakup was made even worse by the fact that they had to live together.

The break-up

The summer was beginning to end. Leaves had started to fall from the trees, drifting through the air and lightly covering the pavements. The evenings had a subtle warmth, but that was starting to fade too. Everything seemed like it was okay for Adam. The past year had been strange. But it was beginning to look better, to resolve. That was until the argument changed everything.

Adam was staring blankly at the TV screen. No matter how hard he tried to concentrate, nothing that was going on sunk in. Something was on his mind, bugging him, but he didn't know what.

Christa stomped over and slumped down on the sofa next to him. Jesus, he really couldn't stand another one of her moods. They come and go practically ten times a day.

'What's wrong now?'

He grumbled to her, even though his eyes never left the screen.

'What's that supposed to mean?' She snapped back. Her expression was stone cold, unmoving. Like she was a rock or something.

'It means that you're always miserable! Like you have no feelings!'

'Oh – I'm sorry, would you like to be me and see what it's like?'

'What it's like?'

'YES!' she screeched back. An argument was brewing, but Adam wasn't going to back down.

'Would you like to be me? Would you like all this fucking responsibility, like I'm a parent or something?'

'Responsibility?' She spat back. 'I'm not a child!'

'well you act like one, throwing tantrums day and night' He had reduced his voice to a whisper, almost as a sign of surrender. But Christa was having none of it.

'Why do you feel like a parent? Do you think I need looking after?'

'Yes, actually'

'WHY?'

'Because you're a MURDERER!'

The silence that followed was explosive. Adam's head felt as it was about to implode with regret, anxiety and tension, leading up to what her answer would be. The seconds felt like hours, the clock ticking felt like a bomb. Say something, he begged silently. Say something.

'is that what you see me as?' her voice cracked and she murmured it. Adam went by pure instinct to reach out towards her, fully expecting her to stop him.

'answer me' she whispered.

'I..I don't see you like that'

Christa turned her head away from him.

'You think you're so innocent. You don't know how hard it is. You think I don't know what I've done? You think I don't know anything?'

'That's not true'

'Yes, Adam…it is true'

'But-'

'End of discussion'

'What? You can't just cut me off?'

Christa slowly turned to face him again, her eyes blurred with tears.

'I just did'

'but…what? What does this mean?'

'I can't do this anymore'

'Do what?'

'Us'

'Christa-'

'Oh come on. You knew this would have to end sometime'

'Why?'

'What did you think would happen? I walk around all wrinkly, holding the hand of a sixteen year old?'

'I can't help being like this'

'I know you can't. And I can't help aging. It's time you found someone else'

Adam looked at the floor. Why was she doing this now? Things were only starting to look up.

'Is this about Celia and Tom?'

'no! Why would it be about them?'

'You think that I should be better off with her, and you'd be better off with him?'

'No.' she said sternly.

'You think that-'

'Shut up, Adam. I don't want to talk to you anymore'

'Where are you going to go?'

'What?'

'You can't just live on the streets now'

Christa paused, pulling a hand through her hair.

'I'll find somewhere for now. I will'

She heaved herself off the sofa before Adam could get another word in.

Just before she opened the door, he sprang to his feet.

'What's the date?'

'12th of September' She replied automatically.

Today was the full moon.

'Christa-'

But she had already gone.

Adam really didn't know how he was able to stand there, not running after her.

The reality of what had just happened didn't sink in until she'd left.

The term 'my life flashed before me eyes' is used pretty often. But sometimes people don't acknowledge the fact that the same sort of idea could be used in different ways. For example, Adam saw the past year seep back into his mind. The memories returned, the ones which he tried to bury. He had been through so much with Christa and he didn't want it to change, not now.

But he couldn't get rid of the nagging question in the back of his head. What if he had never met her? What if, his father had never gotten so weak. What if he had never been helped by George and Nina, so he would have never been to Rathbourne School. What if.

He didn't want to let Christa leave. He was a 47 year old vampire…who had just been through his first relationship.

No one ever wants to let go.

Adam sometimes thought about that day, like a dream. The time that followed it happening, he was rejecting the memory. He denied it even happened, that it was over. But now…now it seemed different. He had Christa back, but as a friend. He had Celia, too. She was very likeable…but not the same. He liked a challenge with Christa. Celia was easy to be persuaded, and their personalities kind of clashed. But he had made a promise to keep her safe. He had told her father that he would stay with her. It was difficult at first, making Celia to trust him. Almost an absolute stranger, and he had to tell her to come with him and his friends. If he had been asked to do that he would have done a runner, so he was just thankful that she didn't.

It had been quite a long time since he got that letter. Just after Deborah Stammers died…a police officer, or a guy posing as a police officer, questioned him. He walked off but left him a note, telling Adam to run. 'They are coming for you and your friends'. It was like it was burned into his mind. He had said he was Celia's father. He had also told Adam not to say anything, just to leave Wales and get away. Christ, he didn't even know what he was running from.

But he didn't dare ask Celia about her family. All he knew was that she used to be happy before she died. He needed to find out more. Adam had this ache inside of him…an ache, or a thirst to know.

Things had got complicated after that. You could call it a rough patch, but that's a large understatement. Matt got sick of everyone, treating him like he really was a ghost. He said he had felt left out, and left. It shocked Adam and Christa the most, they thought he couldn't be independent. But they couldn't go after him, he could be anywhere. They had to wait for him to come back on his own.

All this remembering…it had wiped out Adam. The crisp air had started to become bitter, and Celia was still at the shops. He was glad though, because it gave him some space to think. He was about to go and sit on his head when he hear someone mumbling behind him. Adam whipped round quickly, preparing to pounce on someone breaking and entering. Only he was too stunned to move.

'Matt?'