Hello everyone, how you all been doin? How long has it been since my last update? Well, that doesn't matter, cuz I got it up finally~ If your all wondering what I've been up to lately, I just got busy with piles of work that had to be done. I felt like it would never end, but I put just as much time for working on this chappy. I made it long too, be happy! But, I honestly am not all that happy with it. Every time I was looking through some parts, I felt that it was too boring to read, so I had to re-edit it over and over again...Hopefully you'll enjoy. Oh and just a heads up, this chapter is mostly about Desmond, so...
Enjoy :D
P.S. If you find any errors or something a bit off in any part of the chapter, do let me know. I didn't put much time to check for any problems...
On their trip back to the apartment, it took Ezio and Desmond a moment to realize how quiet Altair had gotten. When they both met up with him in the parking lot, he didn't speak a word to them. He didn't seem to be in any bad mood and he wasn't pouting the whole ride home or complaining about trust issues. It was hard to read his face, they really couldn't tell if he was upset or not; they began to wonder what Altair was thinking about. Would it have anything to do with excluding the man from the talk they had with Lucy earlier? Or was it something else?
They had finally arrived home, pulling into the driveway, and all of them exiting out of the car. Ezio and Desmond got out, but paused, noticing that Altair was already striding toward their apartment, with his hood over his head. He walked up to the door, but turned around seeing the others hadn't moved yet. A smirk flowed over his face, "What are you two waiting for? Are you going to stand there all day?" The other two blinked dumbly at him, they were uncertain to why they were hesitating, "I hope you do realize that I am…Still very thirsty." He said in a soft voice, his eyes staring intently at them. Just registering those last few words made a shiver run up Ezio's spine. He didn't know why he felt uneasy. As he stared at Altair; something seemed different about him.
The two walk over to their friend, and Ezio took out his key, unlocking the door to the apartment. Altair was first to go inside, making his way to the fridge, hoping that there were more blood packs to snack on. Ezio closed the door quietly, looking in the direction Altair had gone. Desmond stood by his side, raising a brow at him, "Yo, Ezio" He startled the Italian man, making him glance at him, "You look like you seen a ghost. Are you alright?"
"Y-Yeah" Ezio walked a few steps forward just enough to peer at Altair from around the corner of the wall, cautiously watching the Arabic looking through the fridge.
Desmond came closer to him, a concerned look took over his features. "Hey, Ezio what-"
"Shh" Ezio place a hand over Desmond's mouth, beckoning him to follow him to their room. Desmond sighed but did as he was told. Ezio closed the door to their bedroom as soon as the other walked in, giving a questioning look to his friend.
"So…What's up?"
Ezio leaned back against the door, thinking of what to say to him, "I….I felt that it was important to know about this..."
"Is something wrong?"
Ezio stuffed his hands into his pockets, hesitating for a moment before speaking again. He gazed at the younger man, "Something happened to Altair during fourth period."
Desmond raised a brow, "What…Do you mean? What happened?"
"Um….I came across Altair in the boy's restroom when I went out to search for him. He was losing control of his thirst again, but this time it got bad. He had to lock himself in one of the stalls to prevent himself from hunting for blood. Luckily I got there in time to give him the remaining packs in my backpack to get him to calm down again."
"Oh my god…Did you tell Lucy about this?"
"No! She can't know about this Desmond." Ezio says quickly, pushing off from the door.
Desmond raised a brow in question, "Why not? She knows about it already."
"Because, if she finds out, then there is no doubt that she will tell William. Things will just get worse for Altair; and trust me, he would rather we don't say anything to them." Ezio said seriously.
"So, what do want to do about him then?" Desmond asked.
Ezio bit his lower lip, his eyes glancing between Desmond and the door. "I will see if I can talk about this to Altair. There must be something that is triggering the state that he is going through."
"The answer should be obvious, right? Doesn't he just want blood?"
"That's what I had thought too. But there has to be more to this than we think. Many things have been affecting him lately….Remember what happened earlier when he was with Malik?" Desmond didn't speak, only nodded his head, "That is just one of the things. I will have to examine more of the causes that's been going on with Altair, and figure out why he's acting so strangely."
Desmond nods his head again, but not showing much interest on his face. "Yeah, well good luck with that," He pats his friend on the shoulder, "You go figure out what's up with Altair, while I go make a quick visit to Lucy's place."
As Desmond went over to the door, Ezio stood in his way, "Wait…Why do you need to see her for?"
Desmond sighed, "Don't worry. I'm not going to tell her about Altair's situation. I just….Have something personal to ask her."
"Would it have anything to do with the conversation we had after school?" Ezio asked.
Desmond pursed his lips, "….Maybe"
Ezio scrunched his face, eyeing the younger man carefully, "Alright….I trust you enough. Don't stay out too late, understood?" He said.
Desmond pat him on the shoulder again, "Yeah, yeah; see ya later." He smiled, shoving him aside and opening the door to leave.
The Italian watched him take off. He was starting to feel bad now; he purposely didn't share any details about Altair possibly seeing Robert De Sable. Shrugging his shoulders, he decides that he can always tell him some other time.
20 minutes later…
Lucy stopped what she did when she heard a knock on her door. She wasn't expecting any visitors today, unless of course, it was her girlfriend. She's probably about to get a big lecture for avoiding her for the past week. And she felt bad about that, but she really has a lot of things to take care of. She went over to her door, looking through the peep hole quickly, noticing that it was only Desmond. Lucy had unlocked her chain, opening the door wide, revealing her full body.
"Hey" Desmond said, smiling at her.
"Des? What are you doing here?" Lucy said, raising an eyebrow at him.
Desmond suddenly blushed, taking notice that she wasn't wearing any pants, revealing her hello kitty underwear with a matching shirt she loves so much. He knows that it is usually a habit of hers not to dress fully in her own home, but the least she can do is make herself decent when she is having a visitor. "I…Uh, need to talk with you." He said seriously, looking in her eyes
Lucy slowly shook her head, "I'm sorry, Desmond, but I'm kind of busy-"
"Only for a few minutes…"
The blonde bit her lower lip as if thinking about it, "Fine…" She said reluctantly, opening her door to let the man in. As soon as Desmond walked in, she closed the door and just staring at his back, "What's up?" She asked, leaning against her door. Desmond turned to look at the blonde; wariness could be shown in his eyes. He continued to stay silent, while Lucy looked at him cautiously, "Well?"
"Well….It's actually about the info you shared with us earlier; about my father getting called back to base for some unknown reason….Don't you think you should tell me what that was about?" He asked, turning his body fully at her.
Lucy gave a frustrated sigh, "Not this again…"
"I am serious about this, Lucy." He growled. "It irritates me a lot when my dad leaves without telling us what's going…."
"I know that…" She said, with a deadpanned look on her face. "But….William didn't tell me anything-"
"Don't lie to me" He raised his voice at her.
"I'm not lying. I really don't know! I'm only sharing with you what your father told me." She snapped, glaring back at him. "If there was something going on with the brotherhood, don't you think William would have informed us about it." Desmond was quiet. "Look….It's obvious that it's nothing that concerns us, but we just need to be calm and wait until he returns." Desmond looked away from her, running a hand through his short brown hair, shifting on one foot to the other. "You shouldn't strain yourself like this. He will be fine."
"I…I can't help it. I feel like something bad will happen to him eventually."
She looked at him sympathetically, "You shouldn't think that way-"
"Why not?...I mean, something like this has happened before….And we were this close to being found out about the research my dad has collected when a few people were snooping in on us."
She nodded her head, "I understand that this is frustrating…"
Desmond raised a brow, "That's a bit of an understatement."
Lucy rolled her eyes, hands on her hips, "Standing around and arguing won't make it any better, Desmond."
The male sighed, going over to the couch and slumped down, "You're right, I'm sorry…..How long until my dad returns?"
"As if I knew….He should be back before this week is over, I guess." She said
Dragging his hands over his face, Desmond groaned in irritation, "Goddammit, this sucks! This is crazy!"
"I know, but let's not worry about this, alright?"
Standing up abruptly, Desmond scowled, "This isn't easy, you know. If anyone from the higher ups somehow knew about our little "operation"; they will hunt us down and have us all lynched, starting with my dad."
"Desmond…" She spoke softly.
"Look, I think Altair is a really cool guy and all, but…..Having to go through this kind of situation because of him, is scary. What we are doing would be considered treason!"
Lucy turned her gaze away from him, "I understand, and your father understands that. We are afraid. But, we have a purpose in doing this. Altair could be our only chance to living a better life."
"Yeah, except it doesn't help when it turns out that Altair had to be the most dangerous person alive."
"I know it sounded like a bad idea at first, but what your father had said before was right. Altair's been doing good so far blending in with society. And even I have to admit that he is showing much progress. In fact, I don't think his constant thirst for blood is anymore of problem now."
Desmond's face fell into a blank expression, 'Huh, funny that…' He is definitely not going to mention anything about what occurred today. Not that he was planning to. The room was silent for a moment, and Desmond couldn't help but let his eyes wander around the room, noticing the clutter of papers scattered everywhere in this room. "So….What's been keeping you busy?" He asked, trying to keep his mind off of the subject.
"Hmm?" She stared at him for a second, "Oh, I was just looking through some files that William left for me." She stalked towards her kitchen only to come back with some new papers in hand.
"Some?" The whole room was practically covered in mountains of files. There was a set of papers displayed on the coffee table in front of him. He eyed it for a second.
"Yeah, until you came along and decided to disrupt me." Desmond chuckled, picking up a page and saw that the topic was on blood types. He continued to look intently through more random papers, until hearing a small knock on the door, alarming him. Lucy had this bewildered expression on her face, "Who is that?"
"Don't look at me. I didn't invite anyone." Desmond said, his hands flying up defensively.
"Well, I wasn't expecting any visitor's today." She glared at the man before stalking over to her door, looking through the peep hole and seeing that it was her good friend Shaun. "Oh, no…"
Desmond sat up straight, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing….It's a friend of mine."
"You…Don't have to answer, you know."
She sighed, "Just hang on. I'll see if I can make him leave." Opening her door just a tad bit, she met the eyes of a very impatient Shaun waiting outside. "S-Shaun, hey" Desmond froze.
"Hello, Lucy" Shaun said.
"What can I help you with?" Lucy said, still concealing her appearance.
"Oh, nothing; I just think it's been awhile since we last saw each other, and thought that I should stop by and say hi. You mind if I come in? And maybe have a little chat with you about something?"
Her smile nearly faltered, "…Oh…Well, I'm in the in the middle of something; maybe some other time alright." She said, making a haste to close the door, only to get Shaun's foot caught in the way.
"Now, now, Lucy; don't you think it's time we had a little talk? If you keep avoiding me, I'm going to assume that you're hiding something." He said calmly, slowly forcing the door back.
"What makes you say that?" She questioned, as he enters through.
As Shaun came in, he gave her a brief glance, "Don't worry, I promise it won't take long. Rebecca just wanted me to check up on you and-" He trailed off, seeing Desmond quickly rise off the couch when the other intruded. They both stared at each other in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"I should ask the same thing." Desmond snarled, baring his teeth.
Looking very confused, Lucy looked between the two men, opening her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Shaun glared at Desmond for a while, but looked over at Lucy's pale face as if searching for an answer. "Shaun…This really isn't the best time." She crossed her arms over her chest.
"What?" The Brit glanced over at her for a second time; barely realizing she was in her underwear. He looked over at Desmond who continued to glare at him. He was starting to think he was interrupting them just now. But, what exactly was he interrupting? Shaun kept darting his eyes back and forth, between the two; trying to put two and two together. Suddenly, something just clicked, "Oh, no, god no…." He turned to face Lucy with pleading eyes, "Please tell me this isn't what I think this is…"
Lucy looked at him quizzically, "What are you talking about?"
Shaun narrowed his gaze, "Well, the answer is becoming obvious... How can you do such a thing, Lucy?! You're cheating on Rebecca with Desmond, aren't you?"
"What?!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Now just hold on, dude…" Desmond cut in, furrowing his eyes, "You have it all wrong. There's nothing going on between me and her." He stated.
Shaun turned his attention back at him, "Oh really? Well, explain this to me, dude. Why exactly are you here and why is she not wearing any pants?" He gestures over to the blonde, her face looking flushed.
Lucy shook her head, "Shaun, it isn't what it looks like…"
"Then tell me what this is, Lucy! Because to me this looks like a betrayal!" Just hearing that particular word had Lucy speechless. Shaun was fuming with slight anger….and possibly a mix of jealously. He didn't even know if he was defending Rebecca's feelings or his. He was actually starting to like Desmond. Then he had to stumble upon this.
Lucy took a step forward, reaching her hand out to him, "Look I can explain…"
But he interrupted him again, "You know what….You don't have to say anything." He started to back up to the door. "I'll just go while you two enjoy each other. Though, I believe you should let Rebecca know about your little affair. It's only fair." Making his way to the door, he immediately felt himself being tugged by the collar of his shirt.
"Oh no you don't" Desmond yanked him back.
Shaun tried to break free, "What the hell, Desmond. Let go of me!"
"No way…You go out that door; you'll be making a big mistake." Desmond got a better hold on him by wrapping his strong arms around the Brit's torso, dragging him over to the couch, while Shaun started to claw at his arms, trying to force him to release his grasp.
"Desmond, Shaun, stop…Please" Lucy called out to him, not moving from where she was.
"I'm warning you, Miles. Let me go or…" He was unable to finish his sentence when Desmond purposely fell back on the couch, still hanging onto the angry Brit. Shaun continued to struggle, trying to smack the darker skinned male with an elbow and kicking his legs back. Desmond had started to move around Shaun, getting a better position on top of him. "Get off of me, Desmond!" He was successful, by grabbing Shaun by the wrists and held them above his head. Shaun thrashed around a couple times in an attempt to push the other off, but soon after he relaxed his body, panting rather harshly.
Desmond lowered his head, looking directly into Shaun's eyes through those amazingly dorky glasses, "That is enough," He breathed, "Just. Calm. The. Fuck. Down….Okay?" Shaun's face was burning a bright red, realizing how close the man above him was. Just feeling the taller man's breath tickle his face, only increased the redness over his nose. Desmond had started blushing too, barely noticing the little action he made to trap the other. He quickly released Shaun's wrists, getting off the man, stepping back a bit. Shaun slowly got up, seeing how embarrassed Desmond had gotten. He started shifting on one foot to the other, "Uh….Sorry about that. I just wanted you to listen." Feeling a little too irritated, Shaun didn't bother to respond. Desmond continued, "There is nothing going on between me and Lucy. You just happen to barge in at the wrong time," Shaun lifted a brow at him, staying silent, "The reason why Lucy didn't want you here before is because we were discussing important matters. And….Lucy tends to wear less clothing in her own home, it's a habit of hers…..You see now? Nothing to worry about." Desmond reassured him.
Shaun manages to sit up straight, "Alright, fine then. What exactly was so important that you didn't want me here to begin with?"
Desmond stared wide eyed at him before looking over at Lucy who was biting her lower lip. Of course they need a good enough excuse to convince the Brit. "Uh…Homework." Lucy said simply.
"Y-Yeah, we were just working on some homework." Desmond played along.
Shaun just continued to glare, "I….See"
Desmond nodded his head, "Yeah, so now that you understood, you won't go running to tell Rebecca, right?...Shaun?" Shaun went silent, "Come on, you can't be willing to go tattle on us for nothing. You'll only be causing a problem in hers and Lucy's relationship."
Shaun sighed, feeling a bit relieved. Seriously though; he didn't know whose feelings he was defending anymore. He's just glad he was wrong. "Don't worry, I am convinced now. I was an idiot for actually assuming that Lucy would be into a guy…..Or you."
Lucy snickered, and Desmond scowled at her, "Good….Now that that is cleared up. I suppose there is no reason to keep you hostage here any further. So, if you don't mind, we really need to get back to work." He said seriously.
The paler man eyed the papers spread out on the coffee table. He grabbed the sheets of paper, picking them up to read what the subject was about. What he had read surprised him. It was a subject on blood, and another had details on blood transferring. "What kind of assignments are you working on?" He asked in a chuckle.
Desmond stalked forward to the man, quickly snatching the pages from his hands, "Nothing that concerns you…You need to go!" He said, furrowing his brows.
Shaun stood up from the couch, a small grin forming on his face, "Oh come on, Des. You're no fun…" He tried to reach for the papers, but Desmond moved them out of his reach, holding the papers over his head.
The scowled on Desmond face only worsened, "I'm not kidding around, Shaun."
"Do you actually think that I'll leave just because you say so?" Shaun mirrored the same face.
"Actually…"
Lucy sighed deeply, "Not again" She had no time for their bickering. Honestly, she forgot why they both came to see her in the first place.
"You're really starting to piss me off." Desmond growled, fingers clawing into the papers in his hand.
Shaun narrowed his eyes into slits, "I'll leave when I feel like it. Who are you to tell me what to do, anyways?!...Or….Perhaps you actually are hiding something and you don't want me to know about it."
"I am not going to tell you again." The darker man warned.
"Guy, stop it!" Lucy yelled, but failing to get their attention.
The Brit's expression softened, "Please, I'm not afraid of you."
"You should be…" He took a step closer to the paler man, provoking him to take a step back.
There was no way Shaun was going to show any signs that Desmond was actually intimidating him. "Oh, you're so scary…." He gave a mocking laugh, "What are you going to do? Suck my blood?"
Staring puzzled, Lucy stood stock still, gaping her mouth open, 'Uh oh'
Desmond stared wide eyed at the British man, "W-What….What are you….Talking about?!" He asked, sounding a bit jittery. He was failing to hide that surprised expression on his face.
Well, this was starting to get amusing. It looks like Lucy never told her new friends that Shaun knew about their little secret. "You heard me." Shaun smirked.
"I…Don't have any idea what that's suppose to mean. You hearing this Lucy?" He glanced over to her in a panic. Lucy looked down shamefully.
Shaun looked at her across the room, "You didn't tell him, did you?"
Lucy was quiet for a moment, biting her lower lip, "He knows, Desmond…About us…..About all of us." She looked up at the slightly confused look on Desmond's face.
"The hell do you mean by that?" Desmond snarled.
"The fact that I know that you're a vampire, of course." Shaun said, crossing his arms over his chest, "Shouldn't that be clear enough?" Shaun raised a brow at the slightly taller man, who snapped his head in his direction. Desmond was in shock, he could tell.
"What the hell do you mean 'he knows'?!" Desmond shouted, turning his attention back at Lucy.
Lucy shrugged, "I guess I'll have to explain."
Ezio saw Altair just relaxing on the couch, watching TV. As he kept his distance, he wondered if Altair had noticed his presence yet. He's been standing by the couch for at least a half an hour, just taking the time to know what to say to the other man. Sadly, he can think of anything. He is scared if he were to say anything to his friend, he'll just upset him even more. And Desmond hadn't returned yet. He'll have to try something. Ezio walked over to the couch, just leaning over to see Altair's face, "Hey….Altair?"
"Hmm?" Was his only reply. He wasn't taking his eyes off the TV. He couldn't help but enjoy the silliness of the cartoons playing on the screen.
"Uh….Well…" Ezio started, but felt like choking up, "….How are you feeling?" He said, nearly wanting to curse himself for not having the courage to say what he wanted.
Altair suddenly turned his gaze at the Italian man, lifting a brow in question, "Why do you ask?"
Ezio gave a nervous smile, "Uh…I-Um…Just wondering…" Altair turned his attention back at the TV, trying to ignore the wary look his friend was giving him. "Uh….Actually, I did want to ask you something. About what happened in the boy's restroom…." He purposely trailed off.
"There's nothing to talk about"
"But, Altair…" Ezio came around the couch, sitting down with his friend, yet giving the other his space, "What we need is to do is understand what is wrong with you."
Altair gave a darkly glare at the Italian, "What you need to do is back the fuck off."
Ezio blinked a few times, feeling a bit hurt, "I'm just trying to figure you out. I want to be able to help you, Altair."
"If you want to help me, then help me by giving me some space. It really pissed me off when you were watching me during my class time. As you can tell, I really don't' enjoy being watched."
Ezio frowned, "I'm sorry….I-I didn't realize…."
"It's alright," Altair said quietly.
There was an awkward silence between them, "Would you want to talk about this? I mean, finding Robert and all?"
"Maybe some other time, alright? I'm really not in the mood, right now." Altair said. He let himself sink into the soft cushions of the couch, folding his arms over his chest.
Ezio nods his head, "Alright, then…..So, are you still bothered about not being involved in our small meeting?"
Altair shrugged, "I was….A bit aggravated. But, I understand now that it really wasn't any of my business."
Ezio frowned, "Oh"
"I guess that's one thing we both can understand, huh?" Altair smiled
Ezio was silent for a moment, before abruptly standing up from his seat, "Yeah, I suppose so…"
"Wait a minute!" Ezio looked down at the other, who was just staring at the TV, "Just another thing"
"Yeah?"
Altair glanced up at him, "You haven't told Lucy about this yet, right?" That question sounded very demanding.
"No, of course not." Ezio said simply.
A grin spread over Altair's features, "Good to know. It's better if we just keep this to ourselves…..But, if you even think about telling her or William about what happened, I'll fucking rip your head off." He joked.
Ezio laughed nervously at that friendly threat. He knew the man was just kidding around, but the way Altair had said it, didn't sound right to him. Even when he made eye contact with the Arabic, he notices that his eyes were a lot darker in his usual glare; as if he wasn't looking into Altair's eyes, but someone else's. He was beginning to get this weird feeling in his gut, but there wasn't anything to worry about, right? It was Altair after all. "It was, uh….Nice having this little chat….I'll just be over there. I'll talk with you later." Ezio said, back away from the couch. The oblivious Altair turned his gaze over at the TV, grabbing the remote and changing the channel.
"Alright" Altair said, waving him off.
Hey, so how was it? I hope it wasn't such a dissapointment. And I know I'm taking each chapter slow, but hey, at least this way you get more chapters. Oh, and there will probably be something very interesting in the next chapter, hopefully I don't get lazy or forget it.
Plz leave a review if you can :3