Now

As Kevin gradually awakened, the first sensation he noticed was the energy flowing through his limbs, his skin tingling with renewal. He felt better, more alive, than he could remember in quite some time. A quick check told him that all of his wounds were gone without even leaving a single scar.

Looking around, he realized he was in his own room at the house he shared with his father, and he frowned in confusion, trying to recall exactly what had happened. The last memory he had was of going to Joaquin's apartment to feed from him and then being able to convince Joaquin to dominate him. But he couldn't remember what had transpired afterward. Did Joaquin know about him being a vampire? Was Joaquin okay? His heart began pounding, and dread coiled in his stomach. If he had totally lost control of his Hunger . . . if he had been wrong about how deeply he'd needed to feed . . .

Just as he was trying to remain calm, the door to his room opened, and his father entered, looking surprised but happy to find Kevin awake.

"Thought you'd be asleep longer," Tom said, sitting down the bed beside Kevin and drawing him into a tight hug. "But I'm certainly glad to see you're okay. And I'm betting the gang member camping out on our couch will be, too."

"Joaquin's here?" Kevin asked, giving his father a heartfelt squeeze before pulling back from the embrace. "He's all right?"

"He's fine," Tom reassured him. "He called me yesterday. Said you showed up at his apartment looking like hell and then you collapsed after," he paused briefly, "you two had an extremely intimate session together," he finished delicately. "So I brought you home, and he insisted on coming along."

Kevin let out a sigh of relief, but found himself panicking again. "Do he know about me being a vampire?"

"I provided a vague outline of your needs so he could have something of an explanation," Tom affirmed. "However, I decided it was up to you to reveal the specifics, if you so choose."

Letting out a long exhale, Kevin leaned back against the headboard. Could he really trust Joaquin? Could he take the risk of giving him the chance to reject him? Was it worth continuing a relationship if he had to live in fear of boyfriend pushing him away?

"What do you think I should do?" he asked his father helplessly.

"Right now? I think you should come downstairs for breakfast. You must be starving by now, and I made your favorite: blueberry pancakes." Tom tenderly brushed back Kevin's hair and gave him a kiss on the forehead before rising. "But as for Joaquin? I think you should give him a chance, Kevin. He was so worried about you that he refused to leave. I offered him one of our guest bedrooms, but he didn't want to take the chance of going to sleep in case you needed him. And any guy who cares about you as much as he does has my full approval." Tom sent him a smile before exiting the room. "I think you should give him the benefit of the doubt. You made a good choice with him."

The words and advice heartened Kevin slightly, though anxiety still rippled through him. Joaquin was the only other person he had in the world besides his father. He didn't want to lose him, but he also didn't want to delay the inevitable.

Rising, Kevin made his bed and then quickly dressed, donning a T-shirt with a flannel shirt worn open over it, jeans, and a pair of work boots. Sunlight streamed in through his bedroom windows; it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.

Trepidation swelled within him as he made his way down the stairs, through the foyer, and down the hall into the kitchen. Upon entering, he barely had time to observe Joaquin sitting at the table before he was launching himself at Kevin for a rib-crushing hug.

"Thank Christ!" He breathed, clutching Kevin against him. "I wasn't sure if you'd be okay!" He pulled back, gently placing a hand on Kevin's chest. "Those gashes . . ."

"They're gone," Kevin told him, taking his hand and giving him a soft smile. Inside, though, he was torn between cheering and sighing. Joaquin's ready concern for him would make it all the more difficult if Joaquin decided to he no longer wanted to be with him.

Cupping his face with a hand, Joaquin gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before leading him to a chair. "Come on. You need to eat."

"Agreed," Tom said, setting down a plate piled with pancakes, eggs, and fresh fruit before each of them. "And while you two enjoy your breakfast, I'm going to be watching the TV out on the sun porch. Feel free to take as long as you like." With an affectionate ruffle of Kevin's hair, he left the room, giving the young couple the chance for a private conversation.

Joaquin poured himself a glass of orange juice from the carton on the table. "So, your dad says sex is like . . .essential to you?" His tone was uncertain. "Like, you need it to survive?"

Here is was. Kevin had no choice but to admit the truth.

"Basically, yeah," he answered, looking down at his plate as he pushed eggs back and forth with his fork. "I'm a vampire," he said outright, not wanting to put it off any longer. "But I don't feed off of blood. I feed off of intimacy or sexual energy. So, when I got hurt, I came to you to feed."

There was a brief silence, and he forced himself to look up to see Joaquin's reaction, even as nervousness churned in his stomach.

But instead of throwing down his napkin and declaring him a freak or a lunatic, Joaquin was merely looking at him thoughtfully.

"You know, my grandfather had this story about his mother. In the village where she lived when she was young, there was always a fear of the Patasola , a vampire creature that would appear as a beautiful woman to lure people into the woods and then drain their blood. One night, my great-grandmother was walking home from a neighboring village and found herself chased by bandits. She ran through the woods to get away from them, and when she did, the most beautiful woman she had ever seen appeared out of the trees and scared the bandits away. Then the woman walked with my grandmother back to her village to make sure she was safe. After that, my great-grandmother never saw again.

"When she got married, she went to live in the village on the other side of the woods. And in all the time she spent in either village, she never heard of anyone getting their blood drained by a vampire. But she did hear of other times the beautiful woman appeared to protect villagers," Joaquin finished.

"There are vampires that do drink blood, though," Kevin pointed out, glad to have something to focus on other than his own nerves. "But don't worry. I kill them when I find them."

Joaquin scoffed playfully. "This is what I get for using a story to make my point, isn't it?" He reached across the table and gripped Kevin's shoulder. "I don't care about you being a vampire or needing sex to survive. You're still the same person you were when we began dating. And besides," he shrugged, "if you can accept me being part of a gang, I don't see why I can accept you being some type of succubus."

Kevin blinked. "So, you believe me about this vampire stuff? You don't think I'm crazy?"

"I watched all your injuries heal right away, Wolverine-style, the moment we were done having having sex," Joaquin pointed out. "There's enough evidence for me that you're telling the truth."

"And you're . . . all right with it?" Kevin asked hesitantly, barely daring to hope.

Joaquin shrugged. "I've got no problem with it. This doesn't change anything between us, not as far as I'm concerned.

Relief and happiness flooded Kevin as he absorbed Joaquin's words, his worries washing away. Joaquin still wanted him. In spite of everything, he still wanted him. He felt weak with relief.

Across the table, Joaquin studied him. "You were really stressed about this, weren't you?" he asked in concern.

" 'Was' is the keyword," Kevin replied, that damn dumb smile he always seemed to wear around Joaquin reappearing on his face. "Now, I'm goddamn ecstatic. I want to do something to celebrate." He looked at his boyfriend. "Want to make good on your promise to show me everything you can do with a car? We can drive off into the sunset together."

Joaquin grinned at him. "Eat your breakfast first. I have a feeling your dad won't let you out of the house if you don't."

Less than a half hour later, the two of them were zooming through Riverdale out towards the countryside. The weather was perfect, with a bright sun, a blue sky, and a slight breeze to prevent the day from growing too warm. The wind played in their hair as they sped along in Joaquin's vintage convertible, and Kevin took advantage of the bench seat to cuddle up close to Joaquin.

Just as they reached the last stoplight in the main part of town, they pulled up alongside an older pickup truck. In the bed of the truck sat Betty and Jughead, entwined with one another, and in the cab were Archie and Veronica.

Their cars were only next to each for a few seconds before the light changed to green and they went their separate ways, with Joaquin and Kevin going forward to get out to the country and the truck turning to go to a different part of town. But in that moment, Kevin impulsively lifted his hand and waved to the truck's occupants and couldn't help a smile when all four of them waved back to him.

Then they parted, with the convertible surging forward to blue skies and rolling green hills dotted with pumpkin patches. And then, with the warmth of the autumn sun on his face and his boyfriend's arm around his shoulders, Kevin felt an emotion unfold in his chest that he hadn't experienced for a long time: hope. Hope for himself, hope for he and Joaquin, and hope for the future.