Crimson Kiss

Desmond felt a pounding headache starting up.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't to be honest, Dave." he said, squeezing his eyes shut, wishing David away. It wasn't granted. David got louder and his head throbbed with each word.

"She beat us. She was a heroin addict. She was a hooker. She neglected us. She let one of her ex-boyfriends rape Dan. For god sakes, Des, she tried to sell me!"

"Everyone has a shitty life. They don't hold grudges."

Desmond had no idea why he was being so mean. Maybe because he wanted to be left alone or because he wanted David gone as soon as possible but he knew he would apologize and make it up to him later. This was a sensitive subject for David and the way Desmond was treating it was downright cruel.

David literally pulled at his hair, grunting in pain. Desmond couldn't help but laugh a little.

"You look like a monkey. You're all red and simian-like."

David dropped his arms, suddenly calm. He closed his eyes and breathed slowly through his nose, opening his eyes after a few minutes.

"Krystian's right. You can't take anything seriously if it doesn't involve you."

Desmond frowned. "When did he say that?" he asked but David had already started walking towards the door.

"Doesn't matter." he called back as he pulled the door closed behind him.

Desmond sighed and laid his head on his pillow. "I need a drink." he muttered and with that said, he rose off of his bed and made his way to his closet.

He flung the doors open and came face to face with himself. He stared into the mirror at his face that had already started to heal somewhat. The swelling was gone and the redness had faded back to his usual rosy cheeks. Even with all of this improvement, he still sported a semi black eye and a cut lip. If he tried to go to a bar like this, they wouldn't let him in, assuming he'd already been kicked out of a bar.

A pint or two of blood should fix that up nicely, he thought as he slipped his bloodied sweater off and tossed it to the floor. Just then his cell phone vibrated in his pants pocket and he pulled it out to find a text from his childhood friend from before he Turned, Dominic Planter. It said, "Call me. Football tonight?"

Desmond could just imagine Dom's plans for the night: hit up a few bars, running up tabs and through ladies all around the city then sneaking onto a field for a drunken, late night soccer game. He grinned and hit the green call button and put it on speaker, setting it on the closet shelf so that he could decide what to wear. Dom answered on the second ring.

"Hey faggot." he answered. Desmond laughed.

"I love you too, baby." he replied.

Dom had grew up in Manchester with Desmond and was Turned a whole two years after Desmond was by his coven leader.

"We on for football?" Dom asked and Desmond grinned at his friend.

Even though Dom had lived in the states for over a century now he still clung on to British terminology.

"Definitely. Though I do need a fix." Desmond said, pulling a tight white v neck off of the hanger and slinging it over his shoulder.

"Of the bloody sort?" Dom asked.

"Yeah. We're bone dry over here." Des said pulling two pairs of long denim shorts down, one light blue and the other dark blue.

"I'll handle it baby. Just get all sexy because that might take all night. I mean, it takes you two hours to get what you call decent but what's actually is shitty." Dom teased, ending with a laugh.

"Fuck you." Desmond laughed.

"You bringing anyone?" Dom questioned.

Desmond paused and thought. "Maybe Dan and Dave but they're pissed at me right now." he said, finally.

"Poppin' off at the mouth again?" Dom guessed.

"Of course." Desmond said, bitterly.

"Ah well. Maybe they'll forgive you...again." Dom suggested. Desmond shrugged.

"Who knows?" he said.

David's words came rushing back to his mind.

Krystian's right. You can't take anything seriously if it doesn't involve you.

He shook it out of his mind but he made a mental note to apologize for how he acted.

"You should. It's the right thing to do, yeah?" Dom said, not trying to conceal the fact that he was reading Desmond's thoughts.

"Guess so. The pains I go through for being a good friend." he muttered.

"I'm bringing a few guys I met. They're pretty chill. We'll be there in a bit." Dom said, preparing to hang up.

"Alright." Desmond said, slinging a pair of shorts over his arm to free his hand to grab his phone. He now held it to his mouth.

"Oh and Des?" Dom quickly added before Desmond hung up.

"Yeah?" he answered, his finger hovering over the end button.

"Light blue denim shows grass stains more than dark blue." Dom said and Desmond laughed.

"You know me too well."

Dom laughed too. "Later." he said and the best friends hung up.

Desmond hung the light blue denim shorts back up and snagged an orange hat.

Whenever Dom and Desmond played soccer they were always on the same team and there were always two teams, orange and white. The teams always wore corresponding colors for their team so there would be no need to change but Dom and Desmond always wore the same outfit: white shirt, denim shorts, knee high white socks with two orange stripes, orange hoody, orange hat with a white embroidered D on the front and orange Converses. The white team wore the exact inverse of that.

Desmond grabbed the appropriate clothes and his cleats and stripped naked, grabbing a towel from a drawer and wrapping it around his waist. He grabbed his washcloth and shot his clothes onto his bed as he walked towards his bedroom door to head to the shower down the hall. He had a bathroom connected to his room but he figured he better tell the twins.

He passed the Fassano twins in the hallway while he was walking and nodded politely as they ogled him like a piece of meat. He came to a halt outside the twins room and knocked twice.

"Is that you, Des?" Daniel's voice asked, muffled by the door.

"Yeah. Open the door." he answered.

"Screw off." David shot through the door.

Desmond glanced over at the twins who had started to walk towards him with lust filled eyes and Desmond gripped his towel and kind of panicked.

"Uhhmm...I'm about to be approached by some sluts and I have nothing on but a towel." he called, nervously and to his delight, a moment later, the door knob turned and he quickly ran into the room, slamming the door behind him just as the twins reached it. He sighed.

"That was close." he said, relieved.

"Whatever." David said, sitting on his bed. He had apparently opened the door but was still bitter.

"What do you want?" he demanded.

Des sighed.

"I'm sorry, okay? I'm an asshole and shouldn't have ignored you guy's feeling like that. You guys are my best mates and I treated you badly but I can make it up." he said.

David's stony face had softened and now curiosity washed over him.

"How?" he demanded but with noticeably less venom.

"Soccer, bars, girls and law breaking fun." Desmond laughed as a devilish grin washed over his sexy face. That same grin quickly dominated the twins handsome faces.

"Is this Dom's doing?" Daniel asked.

"Who else would suggest boobs, booze and soccer for a daily outing?" Desmond laughed.

The twins joined it. He had a point.

"He'll be here soon." Desmond said, turning to leave.

"Does Krys know we're leaving?" Daniel asked and Desmond could hear the soft creak of a bed moving and a soft thump and Daniel cry out. He glanced behind him and saw that David had shot a pillow at him.

"Who cares? Technically he has no dominion over me anymore. You two can ask to go though." he snorted and left the room, not waiting for a reply.

David got up and moved to the closet that they shared and pulled out clothes for both of them related to the orange team and tossed them on the bed. They obviously weren't going to ask.

"You never did tell what happened between you and Angel when you let her feed off of you, Dave." Daniel said, pulling his clothes out of the pile his brother was creating.

"Nothing. She fed off of me and that was that." David said, quickly and Daniel scoffed, now upset.

"Since when did you start lying to me?" he demanded.

They had only each other their entire lives and knew everything about each other. They never kept secrets from each other and telling when they were being lied to came as easy to them as speaking English, especially having been lied to for as long back as they could remember. After David had reappeared from letting Angel feed off of him, Daniel knew right away something was wrong.

David sighed and turned to his brother. His look was solemn.

"What happened?" Daniel demanded.

"Swear not to tell?" David asked and Daniel nodded.

"When have I ever told anything?" he assured him.

"Cross your heart?" David pressed.

This was something the twins only said when it was really important. They'd only said it a few times in their entire lives. This was serious.

Daniel nodded, now serious too.

"Well when she was feeding off of me, like any Vamp, I was horny out of this world and I know I wasn't supposed to but I kind of bit her and drank a pint or two from her." David said and Daniel frowned.

"That's it? Krys'll be pissed if he finds out but ultimately that's nothing." he said.

David shook his head.

"I'm not finished. When I bit her she cried out Desmond's name." he finished.

Daniel's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind that had flooded with questions.

"What were her exact words, Dave?" he asked, anxiously.

" 'Take me now, Desmond.'. I remember them as clear as day. I mean the woman moaned it several times into my ear." David said, now anxious himself.

"What'd you do next?" Daniel demanded. He was hanging onto his brothers every word and he resented himself for behaving like a gossip but he didn't care right now. This was juicy.

"I stopped biting her and I guess it sunk in what she had said and she looked at me horrified and I told her I wouldn't tell as long as she promised not to tell Krystian I drank from her. She agreed and ran out of the room like a bat out of hell." David continued and Daniel shook his head in awe.

"Goody two shoes Angeline has the hots for super slut Desmond. Would've never guessed it." he murmured.

"You can't say anything though. Keep that thought guarded at all costs. I can't risk Krys finding out. That'd be just another reason for kicking Des out and a reason to kick me out. We all know he loves her." David said.

"If you go, I go." Daniel said and David didn't doubt him for a second.

Daniel shook his head, still trying to process this.

"She doesn't love him though." Daniel commented, half shocked.

"Let's quit talking about it. Someone might hear." Dave murmured, closing the closet door and pulling off his shirt. Daniel nodded.

"Okay but one question." he added.

"Shoot." David said, rifling through the pile of clothes for his shirt.

"How's she going to explain the two bite marks on her neck?" Daniel asked and David froze.

"Good question." he murmured.

"A spider bite?" Li Mei repeated, skeptically.

She had ran upstairs to shower after the scene in the kitchen with Desmond and was standing in the bathroom, blow drying her hair while Angel took her shower. She had seen the marks as soon as Angel put her hair into a ponytail.

"Yeah. I laid down for a minute after David walked me back to my room and bam. Right out of nowhere it bit me." Angel lied, raising her voice so she could be heard over both the shower and blow dryer.

She was glad Li Mei couldn't see her face. She was terrible at lying.

"If it was a spider, why are your thoughts closed off?" Li Mei demanded.

Angel frowned as she realized Li Mei was trying to read her mind. Luckily David's blood gave her just enough strength to keep her thoughts guarded.

"So nosy people can't read them." she snapped, slightly irritated.

"Or so people can't find out the truth." Li Mei countered and Angel fell silent.

"I'll find out eventually so you might as well tell me." Li Mei continued.

"There's nothing to find out." Angel insisted.

She needed to get away from Li Mei before she cracked and with that she turned off the water, grabbing her towel from over the top of the shower curtain and wrapped it around herself.

She stepped out of the shower and Li Mei glanced at her in the mirror.

"Guilty conscience?" She asked, smugly and Angel shot her a look before leaving the bathroom and heading towards her room. It was only then that she let her mental block down and she sighed in relief.

"That was a horrible lie." she chastised herself. "I could've did way better."

She walked over to her bed where her clothes were neatly folded and took her towel off. She quickly dried herself off and dressed in the silk nightgown and her underwear before drying her hair and climbing into bed. She wasn't tired but she had nothing better to do.

She reached in her bedside table and pulled out her makeup compact and flipped it open to look in the mirror. She examined the bite marks on her neck and clicked her tongue.

"Maybe I could cover it up..." she murmured and quickly dabbed some make up over it and they disappeared. She smiled to herself.

"Now I just have to remember to do this tomorrow morning." she said, bitterly and frowned because she had a horrible memory.

Suddenly there was a knock at her door.

"Come in." she called and Krystian walked in, holding two steaming mugs gingerly in his hands. Angel could smell that it was tea of some sort. He had already changed into his pajama pants and t shirt and his hair was pulled up into a ponytail. He had a solemn look on his face.

"You feeling better?" he asked, sounding on the verge of tears.

Angel smiled. "Yeah."

Krystian literally sighed in relief as if he was holding his breath and she could see his body physically relax. He took a few breaths and Angel laughed a little.

"Are you okay?" she teased and he smiled back at her.

"I am now that I know you are." he said, truthfully. He came in and closed the door behind him.

"You can never know with those Jamison's." he muttered and Angel laughed again.

"They're not that bad." she grinned.

This was a daily routine. Krystian would come sit in her room with her and they would talk until she fell asleep and then he would take their empty mugs back to the kitchen and head off to bed himself. After the first week of this Angel asked why he did this and he simply said, "I like you being the last thought on my mind before I go to sleep.".

He came over to the bed and Angel moved over, pulling back the covers so that he could join her. He handed her the mugs before getting in the bed and took his back as soon as he'd settled in.

"I found a stray Vamp last week." Krystian said as Angel sipped her tea.

"Is he stable?" she asked.

"Somewhat. He's coherent. I sent him down to the Elders for evaluation. If he's good, They want him in our coven." Krys continued.

"That's great." Angel smiled but when Krystian didn't return the smile she frowned.

"Right?" she asked.

"He's already been approved and They're moving him here tomorrow." he said.

"I'm sorry, Krys, but I still don't see the problem." Angel said.

"This place is so crowded as it is. The last thing we need is another Vamp housed here. Besides I don't know what this guy is like and what if he's another Desmond? I've already got too much on my plate." Krys sighed.

"But then he could turn out to be sane. I mean everyone living here is crazy. Li Mei the nosy bitch, Karina and Katana who fuck everything they see, Desmond who does whatever he wants and Daniel and David who do whatever Desmond wants them to do." Angel said, frowning and thinking back to the scene in the bathroom with Li Mei.

Krystian looked at her shocked and laughed, heartily.

"How do I fit in the craziness?" he asked.

"You're the constantly stressed out coven leader who seriously needs to take a vacation." she answered, laughing.

"And you?" Krystian pressed.

Angel sighed and thought for a moment.

"I'm the goody two shoes, naive handful who helps keep the constantly stressed out coven leader somewhat in his right mind." she said and they both shared a laugh.

"Anyway, what's this new guys name?" Angel asked after their laughter subsided.

"Casey Pittman." Krys answered, still smiling.

"What does he look like?"

"Long black hair, hazel eyes, dresses like a skater, a few piercings, his whole right arm is covered in tattoos and his left has a few as well and then he has one across his chest. He's kind of tall, maybe Desmond's height, and really skinny. When I found him he had a cigarette hanging out the corner of his mouth." Krystian finished, with a disgusted look on his face. He hated smoking ever since he quit 30 years ago.

"Does he seem like a nice kid?" Angel asked, smiling slightly at Krystian's face.

"He's respectful enough but I can still sense a bit of a rebel in him. If Desmond catches wind of that, it'll be all downhill from there. He'll feed it until the boy is just like him." Krystian said.

"He won't have that much time to even get to know him though. Thank God." Angel laughed.

"Yeah." Krys said but Angel heard the catch in his voice.

"You are going to move him, right?" she asked.

"I was kind of harsh on him tonight. Then to top it off, he sliced his hand open and Li Mei being...Li Mei had me flustered as it is and then I didn't handle that situation the way I should've. Now that I've had time to actually sit and think about tonight, I realized I overreacted. I'll give him another chance." Krystian said, his words pouring out of his mouth by the time he finished.

Angel nodded, slowly. "Why the sudden change of heart?" she asked.

Krystian simply shrugged his shoulder and sipped from his mug.

"He's improved since he's gotten here so it's not like he's as bad he was before."

Angel sipped her mug, silently. She could sense there was more to what he was saying.

"He's going to have two weeks to shape up though." Krystian said, indefinitely but Angel could hear a slight hint of skepticism.

There was a soft knock at the door and the two looked at it. Angel frowned. That was unusual.

"Expecting other guests?" Krystian asked and Angel shook her head.

"Who is it?" she called.

"Li Mei."

Angel sneered but quickly fixed her face, not wanting to bring about any questions from Krystian. "Come in." she said, hesitantly.

Li Mei simply swung the door open and stood in the doorway. A series of emotions passed over her face as she took in the scene of Krystian and Angel together in bed. First confusion, then understanding, then smugness and finally feigned indifference. Both Krystian and Angel knew she would comment on it later.

"I just thought I should let you know that David, Daniel and, guess who, Desmond are about to walk out of the door." she said, haughty.

Krystian set the mug in his hands down quickly on the bed side table, sloshing some of the tea out of it. He grimaced as the hot liquid trickled down his hand.

"Where are they going?" he demanded, throwing back the covers and getting out of the bed.

"They're not gone yet. They're in the kitchen eating. Dom's here with some guy I heard him call Coriander. He just looks like someone that Dom and Desmond would hang out with. Sketchy." Li Mei said, making a face.

Everyone's sketchy to you. Angel thought and was happy that Li Mei couldn't hear her thoughts.

"How do you know all of this?" she said, aloud.

"I was downstairs in the living room when I heard Desmond let those drunkards in. They've been here for 10 minutes now and they won't shut up. So I went into the kitchen to see what they were doing." Li Mei answered.

Angel scowled. "Don't you think that's nosy?" she asked.