J - Jealousy

It was ridiculous, she knew that, but she couldn't help it. It was just how she felt, and there wasn't anything she could do about it.

Mavis was slightly jealous of Johnny. It was stupid, she knew that, but when she thought about it she knew it was the cold hard truth. It wasn't jealous in a bitter and mean way - of course not - but rather in an envious kind of way.

Johnny had seen more in his short human years than the vampire had in her entire life. He'd experienced sunrises, sunsets, what it was like to eat garlic bread, failed relationships, the feeling of seeing new things, travelling all over the world...all of the normal things that she craved desperately to experience herself.

When Mavis had admitted this to her boyfriend one afternoon while they were flying someplace - India, she remembered vaguely - he'd just chuckled in slight confusion.

"You're jealous of me?" He asked slowly, as if he didn't quite believe it (which he didn't). "Really?"

"You're so normal," She pointed out. "You know what it's like to be normal - to not have to worry about sunlight or garlic or anything. You're...human," She whispered the last word quietly so that no one on the plane would overhear. "Your dad isn't the famous owner of a hotel or anything...at least, not as far as I know...and you're just so normal."

Johnny, much to her surprise, scoffed and snorted at this comment. "Normal is boring, Mavy - I'd much rather go on exciting and dangerous adventures than sit at work in an office and be normal." He leaned back in his seat and shut his eyes; he was tired from their recent traveling. "Anyway, all of these normal things are considered boring to us humans. I'd much rather live your life - it's so awesome."

"In what way is it boring?" Mavis asked curiously.

"Oh, you know..." He yawned tiredly and stretched his arms out. "I've seen a sunrise and sunset practically every day since I was a toddler. Because of that, I don't really think much of it - it's just something I'm used to because it's an everyday thing. But then you," He opened his eyes and looked at her pointedly, much to her surprise. "You never saw it, 'til that day on the roof, right? And you thought it was, and I quote, the 'most incredible' thing you ever saw."

The vampire was sure that, if she could have, her face would have heated up and flushed at his quoting. "I-I guess..."

"Since I got to the hotel," Her boyfriend continued. "I haven't really seen too many sunrises or anything - and I'm glad, 'cause now it's a lot more special than it was before." He grinned at her happily. "Mainly 'cause I get to experience it with you now, though."

"That adds to it," Mavis agreed - part of the experience was being able to see such a beautiful sight with her zing and relax. "But still...surely you'd agree it'd be better to not have to deal with a famous father."

Johnny tilted his head to the side, thinking about it for a moment. "No," He admitted slowly. "I guess it'd be fun at first, but not if it's all the time. Alright, fine, I get that that's not something so special, but everything else is. After all," He added, smiling to himself as he re-shut his eyes to sleep. "How many girls can say that they can walk up walls or turn into a bat?"

"You only like me being a bat because it means I can carry you around," Mavis retorted, laughing slightly as she said it.

"Well, how many dudes can say their girlfriend can fly them around as a bat?" Johnny chuckled slightly as she nestled into his side; maybe she could do with some sleep too. As the two dozed off, Mavis did feel a little less jealous - not completely, but a little.

If any of them get any closer, I'm gonna throw my bags at them.

Johnny was sure his face had gone bright red with the anger he was restraining as he watched what was going on a couple of meters away. He wasn't usually so wound up about stuff, but he couldn't hold it back, it was too much...

Mavis giggled at something one of the young men said, clearly not quite seeing what her boyfriend was.

It had all started that evening. The couple were in London this time, and had decided that, for the evening, they'd do a bit of early evening shopping (made possible by the fact that it was Winter and it got darker considerably earlier) before heading over to the London Eye and looking out over London. It seemed like a pretty good evening, and both of them were looking forward to it.

It started out pretty great; Johnny had wrapped his arm around his girlfriend as they walked, bringing them closer so that they were sharing body heat and keeping each other warm. London was quite pretty, too; despite the constant roaring of buses and cars going in and out of the busy city, it was still quite a nice atmosphere to be in, especially since all of the big landmarks (like Big Ben) were lit up.

"I didn't know London had so many stores," Mavis commented in awe, peering down the high street. "At least, not all in one place."

Johnny chuckled at how surprised she was. "Yeah...almost as great as the malls we have in America, I guess. So, where do you wanna head first?"

Being a female, of course Mavis wanted to look at clothes; however, much to Johnny's relief, she wasn't too picky about what clothes she bought - they weren't in a clothing shop for any longer than five minutes at a time. Both of them wanted to look in the book shop; Mavis so that she could see what kind of books humans read and how they differed to the ones in the hotel library, and Johnny just so he could find a travel book on another place they could visit in the near future.

Another place they were both eager to visit was the music stores; Johnny and Mavis loved listening to modern music in whatever hotel room they were staying in or on the plane journeys they experienced. As much as Mavis enjoyed the music her Dad had the bands play back at the hotel, the modern music was more of her thing.

This was where it started to go wrong - well, for Johnny at least.

One minute the two of them had been talking and laughing together, flipping through the CDs in the store and discussing what ones to get, and then the next Mavis was saying that she'd like to see if she could get anything for her Dad.

"But there aren't any CD players or anything at the hotel," Johnny pointed out as she walked away.

Mavis shrugged slightly. "Maybe we can get him one another time...and besides, don't they sell records or anything here?"

Johnny nodded and looked around the shop. "I think it'll be at the back."

"Cool," She smiled at him and walked in the direction he'd said. "I'll be back in a minute."

Johnny nodded again and resumed looking through the different CDs on the shelves. It took him about five minutes to pick out which ones he wanted (he only had so much money he'd be able to spend in this country), and then another five minutes to queue up and pay. By the time he had the CDs in a little plastic bag, he realized that his girlfriend hadn't come looking for him. Trying not to panic too much, he strolled towards the back of the shop in the direction she'd gone in, whistling along to the song playing from the shop's speakers.

He turned around a shelf of CDs and records, only to stop dead in his tracks.

Mavis was standing there, leaning slightly against the shelf with a couple of CDs and records in her arms. She was smiling widely (not too widely, since he couldn't see her fangs) with her eyes bright, and her nose crinkled as she laughed. That was when Johnny saw that his girlfriend was talking to a group of young men - perhaps his own age, maybe a little bit older - all of whom looked very interested in talking to her.

All of whom were staring at her in a way Johnny himself had stared at her.

He felt anger boil up inside of him - how dare they?! This was his girlfriend standing there, his girlfriend. She was taken, she had a zing, so why would she be interested in them?

All of them - there were about three or four of them - were quite attractive, so as to speak. Two of them were even quite muscled and fit, making Johnny suddenly feel quite conscious of his own lanky appearance. It wouldn't have been so bad, if only Mavis wasn't talking to them in such an animated way, like she actually enjoyed their company.

He knew better; she was just excited to meet new people, especially new people from a different country. It wasn't like she liked them in that way, and he knew that deep down...but still, something took over him, making the human see nothing but how his girlfriend was being flirted with.

One of the guys, one of the muscled ones, moved in closer to her. That was it.

Johnny stomped over there rather angrily, probably not looking too attractive but not caring one bit. Mavis caught sight of him and turned slightly to face him; she smiled even wider. "Hey, Johnny!"

He ignored her greeting, instead glaring up at all of the men. "Keep away from my girlfriend!" He half-snarled, straightening up to try and appear taller.

The men looked surprised; the one who had stepped closer a few seconds earlier rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Oh! Man, we're sorry! We totally didn't realize-"

"Of course you didn't!" Johnny muttered sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Yeah right!"

Mavis frowned, leaning in closer to her boyfriend. "What's wrong? Why are you so angry?"

"I get it, she's absolutely beautiful and perfect in every way," Johnny continued ignoring her question. "But that's why she's taken, by me! So just back off!"

Another guy stepped forwards, also looking apologetic. "Man, we really didn't know. Honest!"

"And besides," Mavis interjected, annoyed. "We were just talking! They were helping me pick some music out for my Dad because I don't know anything about it!" She turned back to the group of men, looking very embarrassed. "I'm so sorry about my boyfriend, I honestly don't know what came over him."

"Don't worry," The first one said, flashing her a quick smile. "If you were my girlfriend, I'd probably be the same."

Well she's not, so shut up.

Mavis just smiled back. "Well, thank you for helping me...I've never been here before, so..."

"Tourist then, hey?" A third one questioned in his British accent, grinning at her. "Don't worry about it - we're used to the tourists over here. It's been pretty busy, since the Olympics back in 2012."

Mavis blinked - it was obvious to Johnny that she didn't know what the Olympics were. "Oh...right...well thanks!"

After exchanging a couple more goodbyes, the men turned their different ways from the couple; the vampire turned to glare at her boyfriend, who just stared back. "What?" He asked, shrugging his shoulders slightly.

"What was that about?" She questioned angrily. "That was totally embarrassing!"

"I was just...but...you were..."

Mavis rolled her eyes slightly. "You were so rude to them! They were just trying to help me - they were just being friendly!"

"I think they had a lot more than being friends on their mind," Johnny blurted out.

Mavis stared at him in disbelief as it hit her. "Don't tell me...you were jealous?"

"What?" The red-head straightened up, trying to regain his lost dignity. "Of course not! Why...you know...I mean..."

"You were jealous!" Mavis repeated incredously, and her boyfriend hung his head while going as red as his hair. "You were totally jealous of them! Why?"

The human shrugged slightly. "I dunno...I guess...they're fairly good-looking...and you looked really into what they were saying...and they looked really into you in that way...and you were really close to each other!"

The vampire just shook her head in utter disbelief. "I don't believe it...Johnny, you're my zing. I was hardly going to run off with a handsome British guy when I've got you, was I?" Johnny didn't answer. "And besides, I was only so interested in what they were saying because I've never been here before - it's all new to me, so I want to know as much as I can."

"I guess."

Mavis walked up to the shop counter to pay for her things. "I can't believe you yelled at them..."

"I'm sorry, Mavy," Johnny apologized, not looking at her. The guy behind the counter started bagging the CDs and records. "But I just...yeah."

Mavis gave the man behind the counter the money and took her shopping bag from him. She turned back to her boyfriend and just sighed. "I don't want to be angry at you," She said reluctantly. "It's too nice a night for that. How about we put it behind us, alright?"

Johnny nodded, looking up at her quickly. "Yeah, of course!"

As they linked hands and left the shop, Mavis leaned in closer so that she could whisper something in his ear. "Try not to get too jealous in future, though. Okay? You're the only guy I want to be with."