Josh's notebook of vampire plague research expanded so much over the next week he thought he might have to invest in a new book soon. In every spare moment he was pulling it out, writing more questions to himself, ruminating on possible answers, looking at data charts and regraphing points of information over and over. He took a few of his accrued vacation days from the hospital (which had been racking up during the year and a half where he no longer needed to ask for every post-full moon night off.) If Nora disapproved, she was being quiet about it, and Josh suspected it was taking all of her willpower not to interfere. She gave him his space, which he appreciated, but at the same time he could feel a distance between them they hadn't experienced since before Aidan's and Sally's disappearances.

Aidan's marks were expanding very, very slowly. The fact that they were expanding at all was disappointing to Josh, but he would take what he could get. After the sharp claw of terror that had surged through his adrenaline-worn body the night of Liam's attack, when he'd seen those dark marks crawling their way across Aidan, so quickly the movement could be easily followed with his eyes, Josh had mentally given his best friend about a week to live.

That one-week mark had come and gone, and against all odds, Aidan was hanging in there. Some days it was almost possible to forget he was sick at all. When something amused him or he was feeling particularly sated after a blood-shots feeding, he seemed almost normal.

Other days, it showed. Though the spread was suppressed, it was still there, and more than once Aidan had interrupted one of their bantering, humorous talks with an explosive coughing fit. Josh had known that vampires could cry, and break out in a sweat, but he had only seen Aidan do either of those things a scant handful of times. Almost four times now he had caught a dotting of moisture prickling across Aidan's forehead or the back of his neck, but like clockwork Aidan sought to distract him the moment Josh started to look too worried.

For the most part, they talked science. Aidan had free reign to flip through Josh's book whenever he wanted, and even added some input of his own here or there, giving Josh a little bit more insight into how vampires worked. Apparently there was a very mild healing agent that could be secreted from their fangs, but not all vampires had these glands. Aidan theorized they were in the process of evolving that aspect out of certain bloodlines, and that a particularly vicious, traditional maker who would frequently bleed their victims dry would have no need to pass on such a trait to any family they sired. It was morbid, but made sense, and Josh had playfully told Aidan that meant that he was "one of the good guys." He'd expected some sort of eye roll or joke, but instead Aidan had looked a painful mix of touched and saddened.

In fact, that was the look Aidan wore more and more frequently as the days dragged on and they got no closer to finding a cure. Josh tried to imagine what sorts of things would be running through his own mind if he knew he only had possibly a few months, at best, left to live after centuries of existing, but drew an absolute, perfect blank. There was really no way he could even begin to guess.

In spite of the fatalistic turn Aidan seemed to be taking, Josh's blood was, undeniably, contributing to some sort of positive change. Aidan jokingly remarked that it could be the HPV vaccination, and Josh had asked him if he was ever going to let that go. The answer was no, no he would not.

Nevertheless, Josh could think of no other reason that the spread would be so subdued by something like that. What was beyond frustrating was how doggedly determined Aidan seemed to avoid the subject. Every time Josh brought up this strongest of the theories Aidan brushed it off with a joke, gave him a somewhat frustrated, tired smile, or blatantly changed the subject. For the life of him Josh couldn't understand why. The only possibilities he could think up were that Aidan felt uncomfortable about the fact that Josh had really tasty blood, or that, like Nora, he was worried Josh was putting too much stock into that hope. At first it was troubling, then baffling, but it had finally taken the turn to irritating somewhere in the last two days.

Time was forever not on their side. With every day that went by, Aidan looked a little more worn out, and Josh was one day closer to his first shift. Neither of them thought the curative powers of his blood would be viable any longer after that first full moon, and though Josh had brought it up more than once, Aidan staunchly refused to feed any more than twice per day on four of those maddeningly small glass tubes.

Luckily, Aidan rarely ever came out of the basement anymore, and when he did he had no need to go into the fridge. In there, tucked into an empty cardboard case of the kind of beer only Josh liked, was a growing army of more plastic tubes of blood. It was easy enough to sneak into the bathroom shortly after feeding time, gently re-open the puncture mark, and drain another quarter cup or so into "emergency stocks" for after Josh's first turn. He knew if Aidan, or Nora, or hell, even Sally found out what he was doing they would be livid. the way he saw it, though, was that there really wasn't any other choice. It was a little fatigue and slowness on his part or a death sentence for Aidan. Objectively, anyone could see what the best decision between those two was.

He'd have to wear long sleeves under his scrubs for weeks after he went back to work, though. His arms were every color of the rainbow in healing and new bruises, and Josh had started to run out of good places to stick the needle. He wasn't looking forward to it, but he knew very soon he'd have to move down to the tender underside of his wrist. Those shots and IVs always hurt so much more.

One of the only blessings was that there was still no sign of Liam. Either he was plotting something that required weeks of preparation, or Josh's bullets had actually made more of an impact on him than he'd thought and he needed that much time to heal. Somehow Josh didn't think that was the case, though. They'd had a few family meetings over it, but the consensus was to stay put. Liam was an excellent tracker, to hear Nora tell it, and he would find them even if they rented out a shitty motel room for the remainder of the month. Might as well stick it out in the comfort of their own home.

"You know what the obvious solution is," Josh told Aidan that night as he snapped his tourniquet in place and hunted for the least-bruised looking patch of skin. Aidan looked at him with tired curiosity, and Josh said with a perfectly straight face, "We kill Liam right before the next full moon, then find another wolf to scratch me so I'll have another month's supply of pre-shift blood for you."

He'd meant for it to be a joke, but Aidan's stricken look told him he had missed his mark. Aidan swallowed in what looked like a painful way and muttered, "Josh. In what world is that supposed to be funny?"

"Eesh, I was just kidding," Josh said sheepishly, though he tacked on, "Not about the whole killing Liam thing though. That's definitely still on."

Josh knew something was wrong the second the needle broke skin. He'd misjudged the angle, and before he could do more than yank the needle out and say "Shit," a perfect spurt of blood shot up and away from his arm. Josh jerked, dodging the spray, but a trickle still slid down his arm towards his elbow.

Immediately he glanced over to Aidan, expecting to see the vampire leaping at him with his fangs out, but Aidan was actually sitting on his hands, his wide, black eyes fixed on Josh's arm with an unrivaled intensity. All weariness was gone. Josh froze in place, employing the "play dead" technique one might use on a grizzly. Aidan was infinitely more dangerous than one, after all.

After an aching, long moment, Aidan spoke. "You should skip tonight." His voice sounded positively wrecked with suppressed hunger.

Josh could have fallen over. In the face of what had to be a sight more tempting than a geyser of sparkling water in the Sahara, Aidan was telling Josh he should take the night off from feeding him because he'd accidentally nicked a vein. Josh shook his head, then found his voice.

"No," he said, with an amount of conviction that startled even him. "Hell no." He dropped the needle and the tourniquet in the box at the foot of the bed and walked resolutely over to Aidan, who was now looking stricken with something like panic.

"Josh," Aidan began, but Josh cut him off before he could continue.

"Eat," Josh said, sticking his arm out. "Only, if you wouldn't bite down too hard, I'd appreciate it."

"Josh, no. What Nora said about infection—"

"Was total bull and you and I both know it. Eat." josh waved his arm at Aidan and Aidan grimaced and turned his head away like a kid refusing his broccoli.

"Be that as it may," Aidan said, each word sounding like it was being punched out of him, "I am not safe to be around right now. For many…" he paused, swallowed hard, and continued in a barely audible growl, "many reasons."

Josh felt his stomach flip a little at that, but he wasn't afraid, not really. It was something else that did it, perhaps a little shot of adrenaline. "Bull," he said again, quieter. "You aren't going to hurt me. You're pretty well-fed, all things considered. You'll be fine, I'll be fine. Come on."

Instead of responding well to his quiet, calm request, Aidan screwed his dark eyes shut, as if doing so could transport him away from Josh.

That was the last straw. Josh placed himself bodily in front of Aidan, and before the vampire could make a move to dive away, push him, or do anything else stupid, Josh shoved his bleeding arm right against his face.

The sound that broke free of Aidan's throat was savage, despairing, and desperate all at once, and it shot down Josh's spine and into his toes right as Aidan's willpower crumbled. The other man grabbed him and the next thing Josh knew he was staring at the ceiling. It took him a second to realize Aidan had tossed him over onto his back on the bed and was hunched over him, mouth moving hungrily and frantically over his arm. Josh waited to feel the wrenching of his skin under teeth, but there was no pain. With dull wonder, Josh realized Aidan had not bitten him at all, instead gleaning with little nutrients he could from the very faint trickle of blood easing out of his puncture wound.

It had to be worse than drinking through a coffee stirrer. Aidan was making frustrated, frequent keening sounds, and though Josh had just been thrown a moment earlier, he found his arms moving of their own accord.

Aidan jerked back twitchily as Josh's arm moved away from his face, looking torn between following the source of blood and staying perfectly still, and Josh took advantage of his momentary indecision to push himself back upright. This seemed to snap Aidan out of it, at least a little, but that wasn't what Josh was trying to achieve.

With a sort of stressed out, maxed out impatience he only reached when he was truly at the end of his rope, Josh shoved Aidan backwards so he was sitting down in bed with his back against the wall. The harsh edges of remorse were visible in Aidan's eyes, though it was harder to read his expression when he was vamped out this way. He tried to speak, probably to apologize, but Josh had climbed up on the bed and positioned himself closer to Aidan before he could. Every muscle in the vampire's body froze again, and Josh cocked his head to the side and lowered his neck so close to Aidan that he could feel the cool presence of the other man's face less than half an inch away from his skin.

"I'm tired of abusing my arms. Drink from here."

"Josh," Aidan croaked out miserably, and Josh snapped.

"Just do it, Aidan, I swear to God—"

That, at last, was enough. Josh felt the sharp, sweet bite as fangs broke skin, and then the world melted.

He could see what they meant now, finally, about the floating, flying, liquefying feeling. It was neck feeding—that was the trick. Josh bit back a groan, badly, and Aidan's arms closed around his torso, tugging him hard. Josh toppled over onto him, messily and awkward, but couldn't be bothered to feel that sort of minor discomfort. His eyes fluttered shut and he alternately forgot to breathe and breathed too hard, heavy and deep.

From somewhere inside a hot, sweet daze of bright white, he became aware of their bodies, slowly, bit by bit. Aidan's hand was tangled in his hair, holding his head firmly in place against his shoulder while he fed. His other hand was planted on his back, nails digging into his shirt, his arm wrapped around Josh like a vice. It was as if Aidan had looked into a Gorgon's eyes right as he pulled Josh close and had frozen that way in stone, unyielding and marble except for the movements of his lips across Josh's skin and the animalistic sounds of need and pleasure he was making near Josh's ear.

Josh was tangled up in him, one arm shakily propping himself up, nestled against Aidan's body, and the other grasping way too hard at Aidan's shoulderblade. He'd wound up between his legs, body twisted to the side and flush up against his roommate.

Aidan made a sound between a moan and a sigh of frustration and straight-up nuzzled Josh's neck, his hands grasping him a little tighter. Josh held his breath, eyes wide, and then Aidan was licking him again. With each drag of his tongue Josh's body jerked a little, not from pain or from being tickled, but something like a jolting shock. Electric, his brain supplied again, weakly.

Aidan's hand grasped Josh's hair, tugged a little, and Josh, who had just been starting to solidify again from all the twitching, melted once more against him. A louder groan escaped from him and he angled his head away to allow Aidan better access, though the vampire didn't seem to want to bite any further. Instead Aidan put his head in close, hovering just inches from Josh's exposed collarbone, and breathed hard, hot and heavy against his skin. For a few crackling moments they remained just like that.

Then reality flooded back in, and with it, every single ounce of Josh's acutely sharpened sense of extreme mortification.

"Um," he said, and the rest of the daze shattered from around Aidan. A second later he was released and Josh awkwardly pushed himself up and back, losing balance and flopping backwards onto his ass at the foot of the bed. For a long beat they just stared at each other.

Then Aidan's eyes went back to normal and he mouthed a few things wordlessly before settling for just shutting his mouth. Josh coughed into his hand, just to have something to do, and Aidan frowned, his mouth twisting, and looked off to the side.

"Um… sorry. That I sort of…"

"What?" Aidan asked, snapping his eyes back to Josh in stupefaction.

"... Forced your hand," Josh finished his thought over Aidan's interjection.

Aidan shook his head quickly, then tilted his chin down and looked at Josh like he was supremely unwell. "I don't—that really wasn't… there's no need," he finished lamely.

Josh reached up to rub his neck, the way he normally did when he was nervous, and it came away smudged with red. He stared at it, and then the thought of Nora sprang into his mind in a clear, cold firework burst. Whatever lingering daze he was experiencing vanished like he'd taken a splash of icy water to the face.

"That wasn't… too smart."

"No," Aidan said, shaking his head and looking a little dizzy for a moment. Josh wondered if it was post-feeding loopiness. "Atlee."

Very slowly, Josh frowned. Then, only half-joking, he added, "Aidan. I'm Josh, remember?"

"No… sorry," Aidan shook his head. "I mean, if Nora asks… Atlee fed on me. While he was driving me to the Dutch, to see if my blood could cure them. Atlee was… really infected. He turned to dust not an hour after he bit me, even. And I never caught anything from him."

"Oh. I didn't know that." Josh paused, cleared his throat, and nodded at nothing. "Well… that's promising. That's good."

"Yup," Aidan said, looking winded now even though that was impossible. "Good."

Then the heavy silence settled down on them again and Josh got up to start fussing over the box of supplies. A second after he stood, though, Aidan was standing right next to him, arms out. Josh jumped a little and said, "what?" very loudly, like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Just—" Aidan put his hands down and took a deliberate step back, providing Josh space. "Don't walk so soon. Blood and all."

"How much did you take?" Josh asked, dimly. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind, but he had no idea how long they'd been in that tangled heap of limbs and heat together.

Aidan shook his head. "About a half a pint. Still, more than you usually give me. I—sorry." He grimaced and looked to the side of the room, but Josh shook his head.

"No, that's what I wanted. You need to have more—"

"Josh, just, no. Not right now, let's not talk about this right now, okay? I can't."

The response was so sudden, fervent and candid that Josh shut up at once. Staticy discomfort settled down over them again and Josh bit his lip, worry racing through his body and his eyebrows knitting together. "Should I leave?" he asked, officially entering full-on fret mode.

"For now, yeah," Aidan said, his tone gentle. "I think I just… need to rest." the vapire turned towards the bed and glanced at Josh over his shoulder. "Thanks."

"Um, no problem," Josh muttered, feeling heat rise in his face along with something almost like shame. "Any… time."

He could hardly retreat from the basement quick enough.