He sighs and gently leads me to a bench. As we sit in the dark, he stares at his shoes. It’s evident that he’s winding up to say something important. “My…parents kicked me out after I turned.”

My jaw drops. “ What? ” I whisper.

“Yeah,” he mutters. He sighs and wipes his face.

“They said I was dangerous. That I had fangs, and I would feast on them or their neighbors. To be fair, I broke into blood banks and sucked on raw meat for like a year, but I never hurt a human.” He shakes his head.

“But my parents couldn’t get over my blood thirst. So I left. ”

My heart aches for him, so I rub his back. This explains quite a bit. “Clay…”

“I’m fortunate I had saved enough funds to get me by. I took a bunch of odd jobs, any job at all. Then the OME recommended I go back to school, so I did. And now look at me: I’m a forty-year-old fuck-up who doesn’t know what he wants in life, and my parents don’t want me.”

I bite my lip. “You aren’t a fuck-up. I’m sorry that happened to you.”

He nods. His voice is raspy as he continues, “Being with your folks, it was like witnessing that all over again.” He gazes into my eyes, and the hurt on his face is undeniable. “Owen, I refuse to be the wedge between you and your parents, I won’t.”

“Clay, baby.” I rub his hand on his lap.

“You won’t, I swear. I will handle my parents.

” I bring his hand to my mouth and kiss it.

His skin is cold, but to me, he’s always been the perfect temperature.

“But I don’t want to excel at school if it means staying away from you.

It hurts so much thinking that you don’t want me. ”

He sniffs. “Owen, I do, I swear,” he whispers.

I wipe a tear from his eye. “Then let’s do this right. Clay Cannon, do you want to be my boyfriend, feeding or no feeding? But I’m warning you, I might get clingy and want to hop into bed with you every night.”

We both snicker. “But your parents?—”

“Answer the question, baby.”

He nods. “I want you so much, Owen Bhat. So, yes. But if—” His words are cut off by my mouth on his. For the first time in my life, I’m not overthinking the consequences. I’m following my heart, and he’s right here, holding me in a perfect embrace.

We break apart and I gaze into the vampire’s gorgeous eyes. Clay strokes my face and grins. “So we’re really doing this? Even despite your parents?”

I nod. “I think I may have a plan to help us out. But we’ll need to call in some favors to do it.”

It’s the next morning, and I’m occupying an entire corner of tables at Mummy Mocha, courtesy of Seth.

Kovi and Tanner managed to get me a big-screen TV setup from a librarian gorgon.

Our plan is well underway, and I’m trying to even out my breathing.

When my phone buzzes in my pocket, I’m broken from my self-meditation.

Mom

We are parking now. We want to hear your big announcement.

Well, there goes my Zen. My pulse rises when I think about all of the planning we did last night and early this morning. “What if this doesn’t work and they still hate me?” I click on my laptop, and fear and panic fill my veins. What if this is all for nothing?

“Owen…” Clay says, rubbing my arm.

“What if…my parents hate me forever and abandon me?” My throat goes dry, and my vision blurs. Oh boy, the panic attack is taking over. My breath becomes shallow, and I try to slow it down, to no avail. “Oh monster god…” I rasp.

“Hey, hey, no,” Clay says firmly. He gently turns me toward him and puts both hands on my deltoids. “Owen, look at me,” he murmurs.

I glance up to see this beautiful vampire face inches from mine. “Focus on me,” Clay whispers. My vision clears, and when he puts his forehead on mine, I shut my eyes. I focus on his skin and the scent of his mouth. “Breathe with me.”

I do as I’m told. The hurricane in my heart dies down, but not because of any visualization exercises. It’s Clay—feeling him put his hands on my neck and gently massage me brings me back down to Earth. The spot where his head touches mine is everything right now.

Grounding me in the here and now. I breathe slower, in and out. I pay attention to his voice. His presence.

And after a few moments, the panic is gone.

“This is going to work.”

“Okay,” I reply. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, handsome.” He winks and grows his fangs, and I giggle. He’s so sexy, but we didn’t get intimate last night. I had a lot of work to prepare for this morning’s impromptu event, after all. I can ask him to sink his teeth into me another time.

I click my presentation and confirm that I’m displaying it on the big screen. After a moment, I notice two familiar figures approaching the front counter. My parents are already staring at me and Clay, and only turn away when Seth greets them with a charming smile.

“There they are. Shoo,” I whisper.

In a blur, Clay uses his vampire speed to dart out of one of the exits of Mummy Mocha. In a flash, he reappears on the opposite side of the café. He’s hiding his face behind some random book and he’s now sitting with Kovi and Tanner. I need to get used to having a boyfriend with super-hearing.

Monster boyfriend. I love the sound of that.

Two minutes later, my parents greet me with a hug. They each sit and begin to sip their mummy chai drinks. “What’s all this, Owen?” Mom asks, pointing at the screen.

“It’s about my future.” I stand up and start the HowlerPoint presentation. “Now, the following is my current transcript, as well as my GPA.”

I point at the screen where all my A’s and credits line up. “As you can see, I’m still getting a 4.0.”

“Oh, very good.” Mom is utterly impressed. She exchanges a look with Dad, who simply nods.

“Now, with these credits, I can go to any prolific human medical school, a process I will begin in August.” I click and show images of various classic medical schools.

“Excellent,” Mom remarks.

“However, with these credits, I can also major in Monster Medical studies.” I click to show a stock image of a doctor woman interviewing a dryad. She’s wearing a lab coat, and he’s sitting in a large procedure chair .

“Owen,” Mom says, her mood souring.

“Please, Mom. Hear me out,” I plead. I click and show various headlines of doctors in America garnering accolades for treating monsters.

“There is an increasing need for monster medicine. Here are the listings for residencies for monster clinics versus human clinics.” The next slide shows the information side by side.

“As you can see, there is a demand for monster health. And I want to be part of it. Which is why I’m asking you to reconsider your stance on funding my medical school endeavors.

With my grades, I’ve proven my future is a worthwhile investment.

” I click to show a stock image of a sack of money and the words “The End.”

I hold my breath and, at long last, turn to my parents. Dad has his arms crossed with his unreadable expression, and Mom just looks confused. She turns to Dad and says, “Talk some sense into your son.”

Dad clears his throat and studies me. “What would you do if we said no, Owen?”

I glance away at Clay, his wide eyes peeking above the book in his hands. “I’ll go anyway and take whatever scholarships I can get. My grades speak for themselves.”

Dad nods, and Mom sighs. “Beta, we know your grades are good. We know you’ll learn as much as you can about whatever species you set your mind to. We’re just worried about all these monsters. Since you’re not one of them, how will you be protected if they want to, I don’t know, eat your blood?”

I open my mouth to speak, but I immediately feel a presence at my side. “I’ll protect him.”

I glance at Clay next to me. He’s beaming at my folks with his fangs out—this was not part of the plan. “It takes a monster to stop a monster, amiright?”

He chuckles, but my parents just stare at him in shock. “ Young man, you told us yesterday you want to devour our son!” Mom says.

Clay simply looks at me and shifts his fangs in.

“It has taken me years to control my hunger for blood, but I do it every day. I don’t feed on humans regularly, and certainly not without their consent.

But if I ever do anything to threaten him, I give Owen full permission to use a wooden stake on my heart if I try anything funny.

Meanwhile, I’ll make it my life’s mission to support your son.

” He wraps his arm around me. “I have a vested interest in him, until we’re old and gray.

He’ll be an amazing doctor, and I’ll protect him the entire time. ”

I caress his face, then turn to my folks. They watch us quietly with neutral faces, and sip their drinks. Then, they stand up. My heart pounds in my chest. Dad walks closer to Clay and places his hand on my boyfriend’s shoulder.

“I saw you five minutes ago. My son…he has panic attacks.”

“Dad, I’m right here,” I mutter.

“And you could have eaten him just now, but instead, I watched you calm him down.”

“He did?” Mom murmurs.

“Owen loves the monsters,” Dad says. His eyes dart from me back to Clay. “And you might be good for him.”

Clay and I share looks of pleasant surprise.

“But if you hurt my son, I’ll bring the stake to you,” Dad says.

“And if you distract him from his monster medical studies, I’ll do the same,” Mom adds.

I shake my head in bewilderment. “What?”

Dad shrugs. “We could never stop you from studying what you wanted.” He waves at the big screen. “Clearly, you’ve laid out why being a monster doctor is important to you. And lucrative.”

“We just wanted you to be safe. But you’ve made connections to the monster community. You seem to have found one who can treat you right,” Mom says.

I gulp and nod. “Um, exactly.”

“Under my protection, Owen will become the best doctor ever,” Clay says, squeezing my hand.

Dad and Mom give each other satisfied nods, then lean closer to hug me.

“Have a good week, son,” Dad says.

“Don’t be a stranger!” Mom adds.

“Bye, guys,” I say.

Before they leave, Mom points to Clay. “We would love to find out why our son is so smitten with you. We’ll be seeing you over the summer and at Thanksgiving, yes?”

Clay gives her a stunned nod, and with that, my parents are gone.

“What…what does that mean?” Clay asks in a whisper.

I grin and pull him in by his hips. I peck him on the lips and say, “I think that means, welcome to the Bhat family, vampire.”

We giggle and kiss, right there in a corner of Mummy Mocha while Kovi, Tanner, and Seth cheer. How can I care about my friends giving me a hard time? My parents are cool with my monster studies, and more importantly, I have Clay in my arms. I’m truly a lucky guy.