Chapter 23: Boys' Night

+ NICK+

My head hung low as Lucy and my mother made their way up the stairs. I knew that evil grin on my mother's forehead. She had the very same grin when she showed Logan's first girlfriend a picture of him in a full diaper. By the time my mum was through with all the photos, I'd never hear the end of it from Lucy and her sarcastic comments. I sighed in defeat and grabbed a bottle of blood from the fridge. I poured the contents in the mug and microwaved it till it was just right. I hadn't noticed that my father was still in the kitchen till he spoke out.

"Nicholas, is there anything else you'd like to tell me about this whole deal, perhaps something that you weren't comfortable sharing with Lucy or your mother?" my father asked me as he sat adjacent to me. After the time spent with Lucy in the shed I had forgotten a very important, vital thing to tell them.

"Dad, a vampire attached Lucy. He acted like her new teacher and when he found her alone, he tried to bite her. He told me that he was the one who was supposed to have her and attacked me then. He did mange to bit her cause he was too quick for me, but her blood poisoned him. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. Plus, I have no idea whom the vampire was or who he worked for. He definitely didn't seem like an Arkansas." I told him calmly. It took a few moments for my father to process the new information, and that really is saying something.

"I'm glad you told me, Nick. From now on I think it's best if you and Lucy try to avoid the outside world and each other. It's no longer safe. I will try to force your brothers into staying with you to make sure that you steer clear of Lucy." I grimaced at his words. The last thing I wanted was to distance myself from her. She was like a drug to me, I couldn't go on for very long if I don't get my fix.

"Nick, I'm serious. I know that you probably feel that you're in love with her and I respect that. But the bond will make you lust after her more than your hormones already do." my father said matter-of-factly. I looked at him with an incredulous look at his choice of words.

"Oh don't give me that look. It was as obvious as day. Everybody knew you liked Lucy way before the bond. Teasing her and making her life miserable was just your way of showing your affection. Where do you think you got that trait from, kid?" he said with a twinkle in his grey eyes. For a swift moment, I saw myself in my father.

"Anyways, as I was saying, the bond will make you want to um… show your love to her in a physical manner." I instantly broke eye contact with my dad after that sentence. Ugh, it was the birds and the bees talk all over again!

"Or maybe it has already…" my father let on. My eyes flew open. "No!" I shouted a bit more loudly than it was needed. "No it hasn't. We came close but we never actually went through with the real deal."

My father nodded. "Good. I'll need to conduct some business downtown and ask around, perhaps I can get some information about any new vampires in this area. It's a pressing issue that has to be dealt with as soon as possible. I'll need to explain everything to your mother. She definitely won't be thrilled about this. We had a very tiring week at your aunt's." he told me, speaking more to himself than to me.

"If it isn't Mr Whipped," I heard Logan say as he entered the kitchen. I turned to face him as I got my mug out of the microwave.

"Dude, you can call me whipped all you want, I'm the one getting some, not you." I said with a smirk. I knew that Lucy would skin me alive if she heard me talk like that about her. Her feminist side was terrible when somebody even hinted at objectifying her. My brothers found that the hard way when they commented about how her ass 'looked out of this word' when she wore yoga pants once.

"Boys, please, you know your mother and I don't condone this kind of language." my dad said with a disapproving tone. But in his eyes I could see a little twinkle of mischief. After all, he had been a teenager once too.

"I'll let it slide this time. Anyways, it's good you're here Logan, I hope you haven't made plans already."

Logan narrowed his eyes at our dad. "No, why do you ask?"

"Because Nick here needs a babysitter and guess who's the unlucky victim." My dad said with a grin. Logan's eyes widened. "No way! I take it back; I'm going on a date. Find some other poor soul." Logan said while he stepped away from us. I couldn't help but frown a little. Was I that bad to be around?

"Oh, come on, Logan, I need you and your brothers to make sure that Nick stays away from Lucy, especially during the night."

"So because he can't keep it in his pants I have to babysit the guy." Logan said incuriously.

"Hey, I'm still in the room!" I said to them. Nobody seemed to notice.

"Please Logan." my dad said desperately. Logan sighed as by now, it was obvious that dad got what he wanted.

"Fine." Logan said solemnly. "Hey, maybe you can get Quinn and Conner to join you and you can go camping tonight."

The twins walked in the kitchen just at the right time. "You summoned us, father?" Connor asked jokingly. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. I need you two and Logan to look after Nick for tonight. Your mother and I have some business to conduct. I need you guys to make sure that Nick doesn't sneak into Lucy's room."

"Sure. It's been a while since we hanged out a bit. Plus, the recent developments with Lucy just gave us something to torment him about. I'm all up for it." Quinn said with a wicked grin. Logan's spirits lifted. "Hey, I hadn't thought about that."

I buried my face in my hands. This was going to be a very long night.

"Very well then, I'll get going. You kids have fun." Dad said as he went upstairs, probably to inform mum about the latest news.

"Okay, so any of you are up for camping?" I asked them. Truthfully, I didn't want to be that far away from Lucy. Even though I knew that within a few hours I'd be dying to go lay down next to her and finally catch up on some Zs, it reassured me that she was safe in the same building I was in. God, since when did I become such a wuss? Even to my own ears, I sound like a freaking girl on her period. I shuddered at the thought. That was it. I wanted – no, needed - to get Lucy out of my head for a few hours. This new, whipped version on me was really getting on my nerves. Stupid freaking bond.

"Not really." Logan said as a smile started pulling at the sides of his mouth. "I was thinking more about this," he said as he pulled out a couple bottles of bloody wine. It was the closest to alcohol vampires could ever get. It involved a difficult process of incorporating some of the best wine imported from France with human blood. It was a rare concoction that only dad knew how to make. I was curious to know how he had managed to get his hands on those couple of bottles, but I decided that it was best to stay out of it. They don't say that ignorance is bliss for nothing.

"Score!" Quinn said as he high-fived his twin. "You're awesome dude." Connor complimented a proud Logan who's chest was already swelling.

"You're also dead if Dad finds out so keep your voices down and let's head to the home theatre before you get us busted." I said rationally.

"Ah, Nick, still the party pooper, I see. Even Lucy couldn't change that. I feel for you bro, you're stuck with such a boring character." Logan told me as the four of us started making our way downstairs to the home theatre. I shook my head as we proceeded. Sometimes I wondered who war really the eldest between Logan and I.

"I honestly don't feel like talking about Lucy with anyone, so I'd appreciate it if you changed the subject." I said rather grimly as we approached.

"Oh come on, Nick. Loosen up, you know we're just messing with you." Connor said as he patted my shoulder.

"So, what are we going to watch? Harry Potter semi-marathon?" Quinn asked hopefully. I shook my head at him. "One does not simply start a Harry Potter marathon without watching till the last second of the last film." I scolded him in a mocking voice.

"Look who's ripping of Lord of the Rings. Anyways, how about watching the Avengers Assemble?" Logan asked. Connor and I nodded. I looked at Quinn who had mindlessly nodded along. I grinned as a familiar memory from a few months ago of Quinn kissing a poster of Scarlett Johansson, the actress who played the Black Widow. It had been quite the awkward, standing there watching my brother make out with a poster. It had been even more awkward for him when I threatened to tell everyone about it. Let's just say that after that interesting little episode, I became the proud owner of a rare Green Lantern actual Lantern.

"Glad we agreed on one thing." Logan said as we finally arrived in the room. Logan set up the film while I gave a pair of 3D glasses to everyone.

One bottle of blood and half a film later we were already drunk out of our minds. That damn wine was pretty strong. Despite this I remember everything clearly. But I also remember how open I was with my brothers. I blurted out things that made me sound like even worse than when I was sober. Thankfully, my brothers were just as smashed as I was and revealed some pretty humiliating shit of their own…

"Do you remember the last time mum and dad took us to Wisconsin to visit the Moore's?" Logan started out of the blues.

"I nodded that was two years ago wasn't it." I asked him in a drowsy voice.

"Yep, and do you remember their hot daughter, what was her name, Leah, Lena, Lisa?"

"Lissa. Her name was Lissa, I would know. I was head over heels for her for six months." Connor said with a sheepish grin due to his intoxication.

"I feel for you bro. She may look like an angel sent down from heaven but in reality she's one manipulative bitch. To be honest, I knew you liked her so I didn't consider making a move on her. Even she knew that you like her. You made it clear as day, dude" Quinn told him.

Connor buried his head in his arms. "She did?!" he mumbled.

"Yeah and she tried to seduce me. She kept dropping things and bending down to pick them up in her skanky shorts. I kept strong though. I wouldn't let a bitch get between me and my brother, not even for Scarlett Johansson." Quinn told him.

"Thanks bro."

"Anytime"

Logan huffed, "Good for you, Connor. I on the other hand weren't as strong. Back then I was dating Elisa. We were going through a rough patch; I was a stupid sixteen year old. When Lissa came on to me, I succumbed to the temptation. When we returned, I told Elisa. I though that perhaps she wouldn't be mad if I told her the truth. The guilt ate me away. Elisa dumped me that day. I regret giving in to Lissa every single day. But what hurts the most is the fact that I was the one to make Elisa cry when she deserved so much better."

The three of us tried to console Logan. I had never known that he had very strong feelings for Elisa. "We all make mistakes, Logan. Who knows, maybe I did a mistake when I acted out of instinct and gave my blood to Lucy that night."

"Why would you say that?" Logan suddenly asked me.

"Yeah, you're the least one of us who has anything to complain about. It's pretty obvious with the bond and all that you and Lucy are going to end up together for life. Your life is set with Lucy, she's cute, tough, mature and she's very courageous. What more would you need in a woman?" Connor asked me with a dumbfound expression.

"It's not her I'm worried about. It's mostly her past." I admitted.

"Why? Her past was never an issue before." Logan continued.

"Well, I didn't like her like this before." I retorted. "She's just so afraid of who she is, who this bond has made her. We were talking about the bond which as you know it's main purpose was to procreate. Well, Lucy told me herself that she wasn't even sure id she wanted kids. She said that her mother messed her up and she didn't want to do the same to her children. She was the victim of domestic abuse from her brother, she was beat up so many times and I never even bothered to notice before." I took a deep breath as my thoughts and insecurities bubbled out in an incoherent mess."

"I made her life hell. I helped her brother in making her life hell. Our house was the only place where she felt safe and I've managed to ruin that for her. I insulted her on a daily basis. And this bond… Oh the fucking bond, it makes me want her so badly that I have to ball my fists to prevent myself from doing it."

Quinn inched forward from his seat to pat me on the back. "Calm down! Look, you don't need to feel guilty. You gave her a second chance to life. And about her being beaten up, you should remember that she kept it hidden so well that not even Sol knew about it." I nodded hesitantly.

Silence soon fell upon the four of us and we returned our attention to the film. It was me who said the last word before everyone ended up dead to the world.

"The absolute worse is the fact that I'm in love with her, but I know for sure that I don't deserve her. Or the sacrifice of her humanity."

XXX

Guys, I thought I would manage to handle this story while attending school, but I barely have time to sleep, let alone write. I've been procrastinating for a couple of weeks, writing small bits and pieces and truthfully I'm not very satisfied with the outcome. As you must have noticed, the story does not follow with A. Harvey's plot, mainly because I forgot most of the details, but please don't chew me out. I tried my best.

I'll be blunt. I don't want to give you guys shit and I don't expect you to allow me to give you that sort of writing. I honestly tried my best, but if my best isn't good enough for now, tell me and I will stop ruining the story and postpone it to next May when I finish my O Levels. If you think that I should put the story on hold, don't hesitate to tell me so. If you think that it's okay as it is and you can handle my slow updating rate without wanting to choke the living daylights out of me for taking so long, then I will continue updating for you guys.

It's up to you.

Yes, you, person behind the screen : )

xxx Sarah