Lost Louve

Vampire’s House

As we walk up the front porch I take it all in. Eric still has his arm hooked through mine and he looks over and gives me a smile. 

“Relax louve, you’re home now.” 

I breathe in, it feels so peaceful here. Nothing like Highland Valley. Quiet, serene. Home. 

I smile back and we head in. It’s a beautiful front entryway with a spiral staircase to the right. Open concept I can see through the living room all the way to the kitchen. It does seem a little bachelor style. Eric must not have females here often. Which makes me slightly relived for some reason. 

“Maddie, come with me I’ll show you up to your room.” We start up the stairs. 

“My room is just across the hall here on the left, but this will be your room.” He opens a door to the right. I step in and see a king size bed, wardrobe and of course a couch and a TV. 

“Through the door there,” he points to the far right side of the bed “is the bathroom. It has a pretty nice tub if you want to relax. The closet is here.” I open it and realize it’s a huge walk in. What do people do with all this space? 

“Uh, thanks!” I say trying to be cheerful. “I’m sure my little bag will be just fine in the wardrobe” 

“Oh ya! Your bag. The driver brought it in and left it at the front door. I’ll run and grab it.” He takes off. 

I take the moment to let myself be happy! This is insane. At Coal Mountain I had a single bed and hardly enough room to stretch. I shared a bathroom with all the other workers and it was usually busy. This is too good to be true. I collapse on the bed. Thank you moon goddess! 

Eric comes back in 

“Here you go!” Putting my bag on the edge of the bed. “Do you like it? We can always go shopping for different furniture?” Is he nervous? God he’s sweet. 

“No Eric this is amazing!” I squeal. “I’m so grateful thank you” I jump up and give him a hug without thinking. I can sense his body tense. About to take a step back, he wraps his arms around me and sighs. 

“You deserve much more louve.” He rests his head against the side of mine. The height difference here is slightly noticeable, I mean he can rest his chin on the top of mine comfortably. I’m overwhelmed, I take a teary step back and turn away to hide my face. I hate my face when I cry and I hate showing weakness. 

“No need to hide your beautiful face from me, but take your time. I’m thinking about making something to eat if you’re hungry. Come down once you’re settled?” 

“Alright, I’ll shower and be down.” He shuts the door behind him and I take out my last pair of clean joggers and a plain V neck black tank. If I’ll be here for awhile maybe I should try and make some money for more clothes. My old ones are pretty ragged. I wonder if his clan has any jobs I could apply for! I get excited at the idea and decide to hop in the shower before I bombard him with questions. 

I find some men’s 2in1 shampoo and decide it’ll do for now. I rinse off and get dressed quickly. I throw my hair up in a messy bun. I never usually have time to style it being on shift at the Mine. 

I begin to head down the stair case when a burning smell hits my nose. Oh sh*t! I rush for the source of the smell, the kitchen. 

I see Eric desperately trying to save whatever it was he was making from its burnt state. He catches me in the corner of his eye and turns to me. 

“Oh uh hey. So dinner didn’t go as planned.” 

I laugh. “I can see that. Can I help?” Taking a peak in the fridge I see it’s basically empty. 

“Not much to make in there” 

“I haven’t been home for awhile and honestly I normally order out.” He smiles. 

“I’m okay with ordering food as long as I don’t have to eat whatever’s left in the pan.” I’m joking of course, but I find myself still blushing under his gaze. He is seriously handsome. 

“Sounds good to me! Chinese, pizza or Donair?” 

Wow I haven’t ordered food in a long time. “You pick, surprise me.” 

I can see he’s thinking for a minute before he picks up his phone and walks out of the room.

“Hey! Where are you going?” 

“You said to surprise you, I’ll be right back little louve.” 

He thinks he’s so funny. I sit on a stool at the kitchen island and wait for him to come back. In a few minutes he does. 

“The food should be here in twenty minutes. Want to watch a movie or something while we wait?” 

I love movies. Almost as much as books. I stand up and walk over to him. “Only if I get to pick”

Smirking he pulls me into the living room. We sit beside each other on what might be the comfiest couch ever. He hands me the remote.

“What do you like to watch Eric?” 

I look over and he’s staring at me. He breaks eye contact after a few seconds. 

“How about a comedy?” 

“Hmmm.” I scroll the movies and end up picking a romantic comedy. I’m just starting to get into it when the doorbell rings. 

“I got it” he pops up and pulls his wallet out of his back pocket. 

I hear his polite talk with the delivery person and as he walks in I catch the lovely scent of pizza. Pepperoni pizza with pineapples, my absolute favourite. 

He sits beside me again and opens the box. 

“How did you know this was my favourite?” I dive in for a piece and start eating before he answers. 

“It’s actually my favourite but I figured you were hungry enough to eat anything” he jokes. 

I punch him in the arm with my left hand, laughing as I’m trying to take a bite of my pizza. 

I sit back and we start watching the show. About halfway through and the pizza is long gone. I can feel myself drifting to sleep. 

“Maddie, why don’t we call it a night? We had a long day. It’s already eleven pm” 

“We have to finish this movie another time though.” 

“You got it” He stands up and offers me his hand. I’m pretty tired so I take it. My clumsy self ends up tripping into his chest. He places his arm around my lower back and I feel butterflies in my chest and my cheeks beginning to flush. 

“I am so sorry” I look down. He takes his hand off my back and uses it to raise my chin to his face. 

“Don’t be.” Smiling he pulls me gently up towards the stairs. Once we’re in my room I go to lay down. 

“Don’t you have pajamas?” 

“I don’t have a lot of clothes” I just realized I didn’t ask him any of the questions I was going to before. But now I’m too tired. 

“We’ll go shopping tomorrow. For now I’ll grab you one of my shirts.” 

“Oh thanks” he leaves and returns with a plain white T-shirt. I go in the bathroom and change. I don’t normally wear bottoms anyways, more comfy and less clothes to wreck if I have to shift quickly. 

As I walk out I remember Eric hasn’t seen my legs. Scars reach from my lower calf up to the top of my thigh. I don’t remember how I got them but I’m pretty sure it was running away when I lost my Mom. Oh well too late now. I look up and his eyes are glued to my legs. 

He looks angry. “Who did that to you?” 

“No one. It’s from running through the forest when I was younger. I don’t really remember.” I look down embarrassed. My body isn’t really pretty, my scars and constant bruises don’t leave much to be desired. 

He walks up and gives me a hug. “Don’t look so sad. You are as beautiful as ever. Get some sleep.” 

I look over at the bed. It looks comfy, but huge. How will I sleep well in that? 

“Umm Eric?” I can’t believe I’m about to ask this. “I know this might be strange, but I’d feel a lot better if you stayed with me. That is if you don’t mind?” I must be as red as a tomato right now. 

“Anything for you louve.” There’s that smile of his again. What have I gotten myself into. I’ve never kissed a man, touched a man, let alone shared a bed with one. 

“Just promise you won’t bite me or whatever it is you vamps do” I try to break my awkward silence. 

Laughing he strips down to his boxers. I gulp. His red hair, blue eyes are beautiful but his body is pure art. He has tattoos all over his chest, which is perfectly sculpted and down his arms to his elbows. His shirt hid most of them before. 

He walks up to me and guides me to the right side of the bed. “I’ll keep you safe. Get some rest.” 

I roll into bed and curl up. He walks around and lays on the other side. We are so close, all I want to do is curl up into his body. I’m not sure why I have this desire, but I think it’s going to be a long night. 

I toss and turn a few times and sigh. Rolling over I look at Eric only to see he’s looking at me too. 

“Having troubles?” He quietly says. 

“Yeah it’s comfy, I’m just restless I guess.” 

“Come here.” He pulls me close to him. I tense for a minute but as he wraps his arm around me I relax and rest my head on his chest. As he gently rubs my back I feel myself drifting off. I could get used to this.