Chapter Text
Alex blinked blearily up at the ceiling, as he attempted to gain his bearings. To his right, he felt a warm, sleeping presence curled up into his shoulder. He turned over to look at his beloved, Henry. The name felt like a prayer on his tongue, his mind swimming with… Henry, Henry, Henry.
To him, his husband was not simply his partner, but his very own form of gospel. His to cherish, protect, care for, and worship. “Sorry, Abuelita” he thought to himself as he pulled the soft down-filled comforter to the side, careful to not wake the sleeping beauty next to him.
He slinked out of the room, moving cautiously down the staircase, careful to avoid the certain creaky step that always managed to surprise him. Elated by his success he then makes his way to the kitchen. Preparing food for his loved ones has always filled his heart with warmth. Simple as it may be, it felt like he could convey his devotion and care through the act.
Even though Henry didn’t necessarily need food like his previous partners had, he still enjoyed the process of providing for him. Nonetheless Henry appreciated the thoughtfulness just as much, if not more than those who came before him.
As he tended to the sizzling bacon, his boyfriend made his existence known, slowly but surely, through a series of incoherent grumbles and yawns.
Henry woke to the smell of steeping Earl Grey and the sound of his boyfriend, not far off, but at the same time far too distant for his liking.
“Mmn - ‘Lex?”
The soft call must have worked to beckon Alex because suddenly the sound of socked feet pattering down the corridor made itself known. Stepping through the door Alex yawned out “Mornin’ Baby…” The southern drawl, gravelly yet still impossibly soft, left Henry’s heart stuttering with butterflies.
Alex leaned down to press kisses into any part of his boyfriend he could reach. His hair, his cheek, his forehead, his lips, his wrists, his arm… the list goes on. Henry blushed a pretty pink as he buried his face further into the pillow. (Alex was beyond excited when he found out Henry could still do that, if he had previously consumed enough blood). Alex hooked a finger under his chin to tilt his head into a passionate yet relatively innocent kiss. At least by their standards.
“Come on sleepy-head, I made breakfast” Alex breathed into their entanglement. Henry made grabby hands up at his boyfriend and Alex couldn’t help but laugh, even as he indulged his lover. This was a definite benefit of being two equally strong, young (from a certain point of view for Henry) men of similar build. They could easily pick one another up and throw them around as they pleased.
Curling his arms underneath Henry’s thighs, he hoists him up and makes his way back to the kitchen, as Henry lays his head on Alex’s shoulder, using his position to nip and mouth lightly at Alex’s neck. Once they make it into the kitchen, Alex sets Henry down on the couch and moves to grab their plates. Carefully handing on to Henry, he sits down and curls up, both men moving into each other's space.
“Thank you, love” Henry murmured as he nuzzled into Alex’s curls. He was talking with a mouthful of food and a year ago would have scoffed at his own behavior, but ever since moving to the brownstone he has become more carefree and less critical of himself. Alex couldn’t be happier.
“You don’t have to be at the shelter today right?” Alex questions. “No, I’m all yours darling”. “Perfect!” Alex punctuates his statement with a soft kiss on Henry’s nose. If Nora were here, she would be gagging, but the two could not care, too lost in their own little world.
“We should go to the donation clinic today, it’s been a while since you last fed” Alex offers, hoping that Henry will take the hint and put himself first for once. With an unreadable expression on his face, Henry barely audibly mumbles an “alright’. He can feel the hunger deep within and as much as he detests it, he can only ignore his needs for so long.
Alex smiles, knowing that he has won today’s battle. He climbs onto Henry’s lap and presses a soft kiss to his lips followed in quick succession by another. Soon, the kisses have become anything but chaste. Henry licking into Alex’s mouth like he wants to devour him.
Suddenly Alex’s adventurous tongue comes into contact with something sharp. Still unaware of what’s happened, Henry nips at Alex’s lip, causing the pointed tip to sink in. Letting out a breathy “ah” , Alex surges up to try to chase Henry’s lips, but a shaking yet firm hand stops him in his tracks.
He looks up and is met with a devastating sight. Henry with tears building in his eyes, struggling to cover his mouth.
Of course, …his fangs.
He tries to salvage the situation, “Hey, Hen, Baby, it’s oka-”, but before he can even finish the sentence, Henry has pushed him off and ran up the stairs. Alex knew better than to pursue, even though it betrayed every single instinct in his body not to go and try to comfort Henry.
Henry, being the only vampire in his family, was taught by his grandmother to hate those parts of himself. That he was an evil, deplorable, blood sucking monster. Society had progressed since the days where that statement was born, with vampires and humans living among one-another harmoniously. However as much as Alex tried to convince him otherwise, Henry could not shake the deeply rooted insecurity and self loathing.
They had come a long way since they first met, bringing improvement to Henry’s perception of himself, but whenever the issue involved Alex, the feeling of shame increased tenfold. Voices screaming at him that he was going to hurt his lover, that Alex deserved someone so much better than him, someone that didn’t feel such a deeply ingrained desire to harm.
Alex of course, being Alex, always told him he didn’t have to feel bad, that he loved him no matter what, and that he should feel comfortable in his vampiric qualities around him.
Nonetheless, whenever the urge was too strong, having missed an appointment at the clinic for one reason or another. Henry locked himself in his room, hid under the blankets and shivered from the cold and tears that plagued him relentlessly. The only way he returned was when a doctor who was also a vampire brought him synthetic or donated blood to ease his suffering. Until then he endured alone, shaking with sobs driven by the terrifying thought of hurting Alex.