The first thing that Sebastian registered was that he was cold and warm at the same time. He patted around, searching for the blanket, realizing in that moment that this wasn't his bed - well, not his bed per se, but the bed in the room that Liz let him use and… you get it. He opened his eyes, immediately regretting it as the sun shining through the curtains (how in the world a vampire had very thin curtains?) hurt his sensitive eyes.

He was in Liz's bed. He wasn't a stranger to her bed - they sometimes hung out there and watched netflix or whatever -, but what was new was the fact that he was, in fact, naked.

Last night came back to his sleepy mind. After a heated making out session, things became even more steamy and they ended up making slow and tender love. He must have fallen asleep shortly after because he couldn't remember much more.

"Ugh!" he flopped on the pillow. How embarrassing! He wanted their first time to be special and romantic, and definitely not/i fall asleep on her.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey!" Her voice was way too cheery for the time it was. If the sun was out, it was too early.

"If you made me eggs I'm leaving this place." Sebastian groaned in the general direction of the door connecting to the main room of the house, knowing she would hear. By the giggling he assumed she did.

"Nah, I would never!"

He hummed, reaching for his phone, wincing at the pain from the recent bite pulling at the movement. He ignored it nonetheless, unlocking his phone to find too many texts. Some were from his mother, generally asking how he was and non-urgent questions about her computer; but the origin of his two hundred and so notifications was the group chat with Sam and Abby. They had included Liz just recently, since it was silly for him to be the messenger all the time.

The first messages were from last night, telling them they were home safe and asking if Liz and him were okay. After a few hours, Sam and Abby started discussing ideas of what they were doing, deranging from having a nice date to wild sex against the wall. Around midnight, Abby reminded them to use protection.

That didn't bother him. His friends had been rooting for them to become a couple since they met the farmer, so comments like these were normal.

No.

The worst part started this same morning, when Liz sent a photo of him sleeping in her bed. The photo itself was harmless - he may be naked, but he usually slept with the blankets up to his neck, so nothing weird appeared in the photo. She even took care to not show the bite mark.

But the photo made it obvious where he slept, since their friends knew her room and her bed, and the headboard of the bed was without question Liz's bed's.

yeah booooooyyyyyy 🍆🍆🍆🍆- Abbs

I KNEW IT I KNEW IT
abby you owe me - Samson

idiot, we both thought it would happen yesterday - Abbs

dont worry
you can just treat me next friday ;) - Samson

who said that anything happened? - Liz

There was a pause in the group chat.

after all that sexual tension yesterday you want us to believe nothing happened? - Abbs

👀 - Samson

Then it was lines and lines of nonsense, another photo of him sleeping and hugging Liz's pillow - this time it was obvious he was naked, at least waist up - a string of eggplant emojis from Abby and Sam and the most recent one was a photo of the back of his head as he read the group chat.

He turned. She was there, at the door, biting her lip and writing on her phone.

Yep, it had been a bad idea to convince her to get a smartphone.

"Why."

Her smile was bright. "Just because I can."

"I hate you," he didn't bother answering the group chat. He locked the phone and put it back on the nightstand.

"You don't~!"

Sebastian blinked slowly, considering the idea of continuing the banter, but his stomach made the decision for him. He was hungry as heck. With a sigh, he got up and looked for his underwear on his way to the bathroom, not letting himself blush once he found it next to one of Liz's colorful bras. He did ask her why the pastels and the rainbows, and she said it was because too much black was boring and she liked the pretty colors.

Once in the bathroom, he relieved himself and washed his hands, cupping some cold water to splash himself awake. He usually was slow to wake, but today he was especially sleepy.

The reflection in the mirror reminded him why this was the case - the gigantic bruise on the side of his neck, already yellowing on the borders, surrounding twin fang marks on his skin. Liz said she wanted it to bruise, but this was… cartoonish, even.

Not happy enough with her hickey, apparently she left a path of destruction down his clavicle to his chest; smaller bruises and shallow bite marks, not enough to draw blood, covered his skin there.

It was a miracle she didn't get any of this carnage on her photos.

And… he was blushing like crazy again. Oh, Yoba, he liked seeing those marks on himself.

Was it too late for him? He panicked, unsure of what was going on. He loved her, but was this… okay? Going too fast? He didn't regret last night, but that didn't mean he was confident that was the right direction for their relationship.

It isn't like he was thinking of long term commitment or anything like that - the thought was creepy enough to make him cringe-; but he didn't consider this relationship to be a one-time thing, or a simple fling. He wanted… companionship? He liked being understood, but not in the way his mother did or the way Sam knew when he needed to be alone - no, with her he didn't feel like he had to explain himself at all; or even if he did, she was open to listen without judging. He wondered if it was something that being alive for decades gave you, or if Liz was already like that.

Either way, he was excited to see where this could go.

Commitment? He could do it, but it was too soon. Until then? He was a-okay with finding out what else he could live alongside one vampire and maybe, just maybe, delay his move to the city a bit more.

After a day where she basically force fed Sebastian delicious food rich in iron (the delicious part she had to believe him because she couldn't taste any of it), Liz found herself living in a postcard. Cuddled against her boyfriend, quietly reading as he did some research for his next project on the laptop, her cat in her feet… she didn't believe in heaven, but this must have been close to it.

Until, of course, someone banged on her door.

Liz jumped in surprise, not used to being caught unaware like this, and quickly stood up, wary. This wasn't Sam or Abby, since they declared the day "free for the lovebirds to work through their awkward sexual tension"; so who could it be this late?

"Liz? C'mon girl, this is an emergency!"

That voice.

Of course.

Of course it was someone from her coven. Of course they had to interrupt her free day. Of course it had to be Laila.

"Don't worry, I know her," she whispered to Sebastian, who had put the laptop away and was eyeing the baging door with worry. He visually relaxed, but looked at her eyes, asking if she needed help. He didsuffer aunt Lauren, after all. Liz smiled and shook her head.

"Who are you talking- oooohhhh. The human!" the woman on the other side of the door continued saying. "Yo, if you don't open the door in three seconds I'm going to kick it down!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming!"

As soon as Liz opened the door, her sister Laila jumped in carrying… a baby?

The greeting was caught in her throat, instead squeaking a "what the actual fuck?" eyes fixed on the sleeping baby, a total feat in this ruckus.

"Nice to see you too, sis."

Liz blinked a few times, unable to look away from the baby. "What happened?"

"I got fucked," Laila made a vague gesture. "Literally."

Somewhere from the sofa, Sebastian snorted.

"I thought you were abroad studying…?"

"I was, until I met -" she physically cringed, "ugh, you know what? Let's not give him power by mentioning his name. The thing is I now have a baby. The name's Liam."

Laila stomped towards the small kitchen and opened the fridge like she owned the place. She rummaged for a while before making a disappointed sound and closing the door with a bang. "No blood? I would kill for a glass of blood right now."

Liz looked nervously at Sebastian, who shrugged. What was he supposed to do?

"Unless you'll let me take a sip of homeboy right here -", Laila pointed behind them, towards the living room, with her thumb. She made a face when her sister shook her head. "Whatever, I can take something on the way back."

"Uh..." the black haired vampire followed her sister, one hand barely reaching her as she stormed back out of the cottage, the tips of her fingers grazing the wild red hair coming in waves down Laila's back.

"Here's everything you'll need," Laila kicked an enormous bag inside. "And I mean everything."

"I…"

"Please tell me you can do it, Lizzy! I'm desperate," the wild redhead put a hand carefully on the baby she carried around her body with a harness.

"I would, if you told me what is going on!"

The woman stopped in her tracks, blinking a few times. "Right! I knew I was forgetting something! Silly me," she laughed, hitting her head gently with a fist. "I need you to take care of Liam."

Liz nodded, she had gotten that idea already. And it seemed like saying no wasn't an option.

"How long?" If Laila needed help, it would be important.

"I…," the redhead sighed, playing with a lock of hair, looking down. "Don't know."

Liam woke up, mumbling peacefully in his mother's chest, oblivious to the tension in the room.

"Everything okay?" Liz finally asked, starting to work the clasps of the baby harness off her sister.

Laila turned serious. She looked to the side. "No. Not really," she whispered. "He… broke my heart, stole from me and ran with vital information."

"And left you with Liam."

Her sister didn't answer, but she didn't have to. From the living room, she heard Sebastian stop breathing, sensing the gravity of the situation. Even Liam didn't complain when he was moved to Liz's hip.

Liz was positively annoyed by this visit, probably more than with aunt Lauren's visit, but right now she could see a sister in a time of need. As much as she didn't like children and couldn't deal with babies, Laila needed her.

She sighed.

"Okay, but you are paying for everything." She gave a little smile, trying to lighten the mood. The redhead snorted and leaned down to plant a kiss on her son.

"Be good for your auntie, sweetie." The baby giggled in response. "Okay then, thanks a lot. And…," she looked up with a frown. "Protect him."

"With my life."

Laila smiled and finished pushing the box with the baby's things inside the cottage. On her way out she caught Sebastian's attention and smiled at him, a full fanged smile.

"I hope we meet again, kid."

Sebastian only nodded, not understanding anything that was going on.

That night they didn't sleep that much at all. Liam was used to being awake at night and unlike aunt Lauren, the child needed adult supervision. That meant feeding him and rocking him and playing with the kid until a few hours before the sun was supposed to rise.

At her side, Sebastian was out cold. How he could sleep with the ruckus the kid and she made was a mystery - and no matter how many times she told him to go sleep in the other room he said he didn't want to get up from the comfy bed at all.

He didn't want to say that he actually liked kids.

Next morning he found himself again in Liz's bed, not naked but still tired as hell. The bite hurt so much he knew he had to take a painkiller, and Liam was peacefully sleeping in his girlfriend's arms. She didn't look so peaceful, though.

"Let me die," She whispered. The bags under her eyes told him she hadn't had a blink of sleep.

"Breakfast?"

"Today you are on your own," she sighed.

"Is okay," he stretched his tired body, being careful of not jostling the baby awake. "Need help with the farm today?"

Liz seemed to think about it for a moment, then she shook her head. "No, I can manage. And I know you have a deadline coming soon."

She remembered. His heart did a flip, even if he was by now kind of used to these small gestures.

"Okay then, see ya in the evening. Call me if you need me."

"Always," she smirked, moving up her head to give him a kiss when he passed by her.

Once he got home, some time before twelve, he directly went to the medicine cabinet, taking a much needed painkiller. He also threw his clothes in the washer, deciding on the spot that he had to get a bag with more clothes back to the cottage.

On his way back from the washing machine he was confronted by Demetrius.

"Well?" he said, arms crossed, a stern look in his eyes.

Sebastian blinked. Fighting with his step-dad was the last thing on his mind.

"What?"

"Don't you have anything to say?" he said, arching his eyebrow in a way that usually would make his blood boil.

But now he was just… tired.

He shrugged. "If this is about rent I already gave mom the money."

Demetrius huffed and uncrossed his arms. "That's not what I mean and you know it."

Sebastian blinked. Of course Demetrius wanted to bait him to fight about his time with the farmer. This wasn't the first time he made comments about her, about how suspicious she was, about the unusual amount of time he spent with her.

"You may have to be a little bit more specific." He shrugged again, swerving around the body of Demetrius to reach the stairs to his basement.

"You were at her house again." He said to his back. It wasn't a question. "Do you know how worried we were-"

"Don't start with the bullshit, Demetrius. Mom wasn't worried, Maru wasn't worried, you were." He turned around and for one time that he felt the rage creep up his chest, he was too tired and sleepy to explode. "And if they were, they didn't say so when we texted"

"Maybe I was worried about you - you haven't come home in ages."

Sebastian snorted. "Yeah, right. And I'm supposed to believe that."

"Of course I do! I'm your father! I have to look out for you and make sure you don't make a mistake that would ruin your life!"

Wow. "What is that supposed to mean?" he whispered, knowing what was coming next.

And Demetrius didn't disappoint. "You aren't listening to me, Sebastian. That woman… Elizabeth, she cannot be trusted," he was pleading, but he could see his words were falling in deaf ears. "I did some research on her, asked for a few favors, and her family is shady at best - she is a criminal at best. Fake identities, moving around so much… something doesn't add up."

The younger man smiled sadly. Of course he knew why, but he couldn't defend her without exposing her secret.

"You have to believe me, Sebastian. She… She is dangerous. Get away from her."

The finality of his tone made him finally look at his step-father in the eye. He was totally serious about all of this. How absurd. "No," he smiled. For a moment he considered standing up to Demetrius, explaining the kind of person Liz actually was; but he was just so tired…

Demetrius narrowed his eyes. "This is not the moment to be a brat. This is serious!"

"And I am serious. She is not dangerous, not to me."

"You must-"

"The funny thing is," he interrupted whatever the man started to say, pinching the bridge of his nose. A headache was coming. "You can't order me around. You aren't my father. You don't actually care about me."

"I-"

"No, you just care if I get involved with a supposed "criminal" in case it would trace back to Maru and her scholarship." He smiled when Demetrius flinched. "Oh, I know - I know you more than you ever cared to know me."

For once neither had anything else to say. Assuming the argument was over, Sebastian turned back to the stairs, nodding at the teary-eyed Maru who had been listening this whole time from the lab.

"Alright," Demetrius' voice stopped him as he was about to go down the steps. "If you want to be a little child about this, maybe you deserve what's coming to you."

"Maybe," Sebastian shrugged, continuing going down.

"And since you like being with that… woman," it was obvious that less respectful words were at the tip of his tongue, "then I suggest you go live with her."

This made him turn. "Are you kicking me out?" He wasn't hurt, he was planning on leaving sooner or later, but the circumstances were less than ideal.

"You barely step foot here anymore, always spending time with her. Why not make it official?" he chuckled. "Go back to being her little pet whore and don't show your face around here."

Sometimes it amazed him how little Demetrius knew about him, about his life, about the things that made him happy. Usually he ignored him and his disdain for his life; but as he watched the man turn back and stomp out of the house, it hit like a brick in his heart.

Maybe he was right, maybe he had to rush his plans of moving out. Liz had a room for him at her cottage already and she wouldn't mind him crashing for a while until he got things under control.

With a sigh, he picked out his phone, the chat with the vampire already opened, and ran to his basement room. He had a lot to pack now.