Page 130 of My Big Fat Vampire Wedding
Since the wedding, she’d become a bit allergic to lying. Which meant she’d started to come clean to her family about not drinking from humans; she explained she’d been drinking pig’s blood for years and was now on a supplement. And so was Dante.
“They got over me not wanting to sleep in a coffin, so they’ll get used to this eventually.”
“So the coffin thing is true, huh?”
“Pretty much across the board. Some of my family members even travel with their coffins when they visit.”
“I can … picture that,” he said, nodding. “Anyway, yeah, the more I’ve thought on it, the more convinced I am that just like there are good and evil humans, there are good and evil vampires. Bellatrix comes to mind,” he added with a small smirk.
She didn’t feel like it was a good time to mention that in the midst of her grief over the loss of Victor, Bellatrix had gloated any chance she’d got. As had Ambrosia.
“Yeah, Bellatrix is not a great representative for our kind.”
“And no one who has ever met you could think there’s anything evil about you.”
“I haven’t always been good,” she said. Sure, some part of her was craving his compliments and kindness. The other part, though, didn’t feel like she deserved it.
“I’ve had a lot of time to think about things,” Victorsaid. “And as much as I was hurt that you didn’t trust me with that information, I also understand that it wasn’t exactly something you could easily tell anyone. I mean, in some vampire fiction, there are even vampire overlords to make sure no one tells humans you exist. I didn’t even stop to ask if that was the case.”
“It is actually the law that no one knows. Save for the occasional vampire who keeps familiars, but that’s considered a different matter. Though, I’m not sure how they even monitor something like that.”
Victor nodded at that.
“Still. Even if there weren’t some vampire overlords keeping an eye, I get why you didn’t tell me. And I don’t know if I would have necessarily believed you anyway.”
“You would have. Like you said, you had your suspicions. I should have given you the chance to believe me or not. I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you.”
“I know,” Victor said. “I’m sorry I didn’t give you a chance to explain. How did things go after … after?”
“I don’t know,” Pandora replied. Even just the memory of those moments immediately following their argument made pain slice through her once again. “I … ah … My mum brought me to my room.”
She didn’t want to tell him in what state she’d been, didn’t want to guilt him for being upset with her. But something in her tone or face gave her away.
“How long?”
“How long what?” she asked. “How long did I stay in bed?”
“No. But, now, yes.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
“A while,” she said. “What were you originally asking?”
“How long was it not fake for you?”
“I don’t think it was ever fake for me. I’d had a crush on you pretty much since you first came into Luna Bean. Had a silly nickname for you and everything.”
“Well, now I have to know the nickname.”
Pandora scrunched up her face, embarrassed to admit it. “Caramel Macchiato Cutie. Lucy teased me about my crush endlessly. I mean, obviously, it was just kind of, you know, superficial then. But once I approached you and we started talking … I was always into you, Victor.”
“That feeling was mutual.”
Was?
It was naïve of her to hope that it wasn’t all in the past tense for him.
