Page 35 of The Good Vampire’s Guide to Blood & Boyfriends
WE GO TOGETHER
brENNAN’S PHONE
r/sturbridgeuniversity
u/micahlandau
Hear me out: vampires at Sturbridge
Did everyone get the email from the SUPD about two students dying at Pike’s Point? It was super vague and didn’t mention anything about cause of death, just reiterated normal safety precautions and said Pike’s Point would be off-limits.
I’ve already been on edge this semester since my last post so I couldn’t write this off as a coincidence.
I did some digging. The SUPD report said it was late night/early morning on 11/21, and I remembered seeing this tweet where an SU student mentioned ambulances near that end of campus around 2 a.m. that night.
So I looked at the SU crime log, and apparently the only call in that time was about an animal attack in the woods.
Do you really think an animal killed two people? And why would Sturbridge take so long to say anything about it? They didn’t even name the students.
These kinds of signs—dark energies, dead animals, dead people—I’ve seen them before and I know what it means.
There are vampires at Sturbridge University.
I don’t think my herbal charm bags are gonna cut it.
u/tastefulnobody: The woods outside campus have black bears and freaking moose living in them.
Am I the only person who paid attention during the wildlife safety presentation in orientation week?
There are very much things in the woods that could kill people, especially people who are drinking, which is what people tend to be doing when they go to Pike’s Point.
And the news is probably vague as a request from their families.
You’re reading into things and, worse, you’re both making a mockery of and sensationalizing the deaths of these students.
u/belatedmanifesto: this is coming from the person who (checks notes) was conspiracy-theorizing about dead rodents in his most recent post on this sub?
u/bratberry: Yep.
Brennan
[link]
Have you seen this?
Sunny
We’re handling it.
Brennan
Okay I used to be team Jacob but he became such a creep in this book?
And what’s with Edward’s no-sex-before-marriage thing? Like, he’s cool with killing animals and people, he’s cool with being in a relationship with a ridiculous age gap, but he draws the line at premarital sex? THAT’S the limit?
Cole
IT’S ALL SO BIZARRE OH GOD you’re gonna LOVE Breaking Dawn
Brennan
Lucky for me I know a cute librarian who can get me a copy.
Cole
I’ll see you soon then
The library grew steadily busier as the semester ramped toward a close, finals looming. Brennan waited for Cole in the storage room where the Blanket Guy Comfort Stash stuff was, busying himself with his journal, perched at a table with his legs kicked out in front of him.
The door threw itself open and Cole exploded into the room in a flurry.
“I’m so sorry I’m late, god, I just had the worst interview of my life for a job I don’t even want but my dad’s gonna be pissed because it was a nepotism interview and he pulled strings for me and I still couldn’t stick the landing.
” Cole pushed hands through his hair, leaving it even wilder than usual, dropping his backpack to the ground and throwing off his coat.
“I don’t even want the job! I’m sorry, listen to me ranting—”
“Hey, no,” Brennan said, jumping up to flutter around Cole for some way to help. He settled for putting both hands on Cole’s shoulders to still his pacing. “Slow down, are you okay?”
With Brennan square to him like this, Cole finally deflated.
Then he blinked a few times, tilting his head to look up at Brennan, because Brennan had drawn closer than socially acceptable for just friends.
But they weren’t quite that anymore, and the realization must have dawned on Cole, too, because a blush crawled over his cheeks like a sunrise and some tension drained out of him.
“Hey,” Cole said, so soft where a moment ago he’d been a tornado.
“Hey,” Brennan said. “What’s going on?”
Cole pushed a hand through his hair again.
“Not much. Except that I wasted two years on a business degree I can’t stand, I’m moving toward a future I don’t want, and I’m so terrified of the idea of graduating and dealing with reality that I’m letting it happen!
And god, this must sound so, like, trivial, I know you have other problems that are way more important than my bullshit quarter-life crisis—”
“No, stop that. Tell me about your problems,” Brennan said.
Cole nodded, and Brennan gently steered him toward the chairs at the table.
Cole, naturally, swerved to sit on the floor, flopping back onto the shag rug instead of the perfectly good chairs.
Brennan followed suit, sitting cross-legged a safe few inches to Cole’s side.
As soon as Brennan settled, though, Cole scooted so their knees were nudging together, casually seeking him out in a way that was almost dizzying.
Brennan melted at the intimacy and said, “So then, what would you rather be doing?”
“What?” Cole’s expression was blank, uncomprehending.
“If you didn’t choose business, if you could do anything. What would you rather be doing?” Brennan asked.
Cole frowned. “I don’t know.” He reached for Brennan’s hand to fiddle with his fingers in lieu of a stim toy, which was unfairly endearing.
“I’ll be honest, I never pegged you for a business major, but I might be biased.”
“Yeah. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do so this seemed like the responsible choice, I guess.
… I like the library? Books, helping people, chatting—I’m good at it, but it’s not exactly a permanent position.
” His frown deepened. “I just need to grow up. This is the path I’m on.
It’s the right path, objectively speaking, and it makes sense, so—”
“Okay, but in a world without parents and responsibility and capitalism, what would you want to do? I mean anything. You could join the circus.”
Cole laughed, and the smile was a relief after the stormy brooding before it. “Yeah, that would really go with my ongoing theme of disappointing my parents.”
“I think parents try to find something to be disappointed about no matter what. Either way, it’s your life, not theirs.”
“I know. I know, you’re right, but it’s…”
“Not that easy?” Brennan finished.
“Yeah,” Cole said, soft and final, but he stopped playing with Brennan’s hand to lace their fingers together. Cole inhaled sharply and changed the subject. “What’s going on with the vampires, though? I saw about the students at Pike’s Point. I mean, are we safe?”
Brennan squeezed Cole’s hand instead of pulling away at the mention of the deaths, the reminder of Dom as a looming threat.
“I don’t know for sure,” Brennan admitted. “Dom went rogue and ditched her place. Sunny and Nellie say they’re handling it.”
“But?”
“To be safe, I warded your apartment, but I’m hoping I can check out the place where—”
“Whoa, hold on, you warded my apartment?”
“Just a few protective sigils from one of Nellie’s pamphlets.”
“What the hell, that’s so cool, and you did it without me?”
Brennan sputtered. “My bad, I forgot the vampire stuff gets you hot and bothered—”
“Shut up, ” Cole said, laughing loud and bright, swatting at Brennan. “It’s objectively cool, first of all, and second, it’s not the vampire stuff, it’s you. ”
Something about it laid out like that tugged at Brennan’s chest with a dramatic swoop of affection, and gratitude that it was returned.
“Yeah?” Brennan said, drawing closer.
He wanted to kiss Cole, and he might even be allowed to.
“Yeah,” Cole said, defiant, like a challenge, and met Brennan in the middle.
The kiss was slow and soft and sure, comforting but thrilling.
Brennan pulled back to breathe, hands intertwined between them, and Cole’s mouth curled in the way it did when he was biting back a smile.
Fondness bubbled up like balloons in his stomach.
It felt irresponsible to like anyone this much.
He’d never felt like he had so much to lose.
The thought made the balloons pop and flop to the pit of his stomach.
He squeezed Cole’s hand, other hand reaching for Cole’s elbow, steadying him.
“Seriously, though,” Brennan said. “The last thing I want is to put you in any kind of danger.”
“Hence warding my apartment?”
“Yep. And, I need to research more about protection charms, and check out Pike’s Point.”
“The murder spot? Yeah, I don’t love that idea, to be perfectly honest.”
“It’s the last place we know Dom was. Nellie and Sunny already investigated, so it’s possible they covered up any evidence, and I doubt I can do anything they can’t do themselves.
But I can’t sit around waiting. I should have known Dom was going this direction so it’s… it’s my problem to help fix.”
Cole nodded along, then said, “Okay, then I’ll come with you.”
“Uh, no?” Brennan said. “What part of not putting you in danger—”
“Oh, lord, don’t give me the Edward Cullen New Moon ‘I’m dangerous’ bullshit! I’m not letting you go to a murder spot alone, because I don’t want you in danger, either, and I’m definitely not letting you solve a vampire murder mystery without me because that sounds cool as hell.”
“It might sound cool, but this is serious.”
“I know that, Brennan,” Cole said, exasperated. “Sue me for wanting to be part of my boyfriend’s life!”
It hung in the air for a second, Brennan’s mind tripping over the word like a broken record, and it only took a beat for Cole’s brain to catch up with his mouth and a blush to erupt over his face.
“Well, I mean, um—”
“Boyfriend, huh?” Brennan felt a goofy smile taking over his mouth.