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Cass’s flush had deepened. “Just—I’m not—I can be…” He had looked down at his laptop, seemingly unable to meet Blake’s eyes. “I’m kind of a nerd.”

It wasn’t like Blake hadn’t gotten that vibe already, even from the two seconds they’d interacted, but he’d reassured Cass anyway.

“That’s cool, man. I need to get my own grades up.

” At Cass’s suspicious look, Blake had only laughed.

“I’m not going to be asking to copy your papers or anything.

Just… Maybe you’ll be a good influence. Rub off on me or something. ”

And then that blush had really deepened, to an almost alarming degree. Blake had tried to ignore it, to keep the good vibes going. He hadn’t wanted to tease the guy. “Roomies need to have each other’s backs, right?”

And that had seemed to be the right thing to say, because Cass had finally smiled—really smiled—and… something …had swept over Blake in that instant. Some strange protectiveness, some new need to keep this assigned roommate safe and happy.

“Right,” Cass had chirped, beaming away, oblivious to the internal transformation taking place in Blake at that moment.

Blake had told himself at the time that it had been because Cass reminded him of Toby.

But really, the two were nothing alike, besides an attraction to dudes.

Toby was bigger even than Blake, and an absolute menace on the lacrosse field.

He wasn’t small or bookish or shy or sweet.

And Blake’s family may have been affectionate, but they didn’t sniff one another’s hair or watch movies cuddled up together in bed, did they?

Fuck, had Blake had a crush on Cass this whole fucking time?

He finished up his burger in two more bites, crumpling up the wrapper as he nodded goodbye to the couple. They looked cozy, huddled up together on the bench, sharing a bag of fries.

He could picture him and Cass like that, easy. But could Cass even eat human food? Blake should have stuck around to find out, to ask Danny more questions. He shouldn’t have run, shouldn’t have left Cass alone with such a heavy revelation on his shoulders.

He found himself walking back in the direction of the hospital, just five minutes away from where he’d been eating. But once he got there, he only lurked outside. Cass was probably back at the hotel by now. What was Blake even thinking, coming back?

He turned on his heel and walked back, ready to march the long blocks back to the hotel.

He’d use the time it took to think of what to say.

An apology, for sure. But what next? What did someone say to the dude fate had apparently picked as his forever mate without even asking for either of their say-so?

“Boo!”

Blake jumped at the sound before he could stop himself. He was already on edge, okay? It had been a stressful goddamn day.

But when he turned around to tell off whoever had decided it would be hilarious to stand on street corners and scare the pants off strangers, Danny was standing there, a grey-and-blue mutt-looking dog on a leash.

“Danny. Is Cass…?”

“Back at the hotel by now. He fled shortly after you did. Never fun to be on the other side of a straight-boy freak-out, I’ve found,” Danny said, his slight smile offsetting the harshness of his words.

“I’m not.” Blake bent down to pat the dog, who was sitting obediently at his owner’s side, looking up at Danny like he hung the moon.

“Not freaking out?” Danny asked, the skepticism in his voice clear enough.

“Not straight,” Blake clarified, willing himself not to flush as he did so.

He was getting as bad as Cass with the blushing.

“I mean… I liked hooking up with him, I’m not denying that.

I’m probably bi, or pan, or however people describe it when they maybe like both or all of it or whatever.

” He scratched a spot under the dog’s chin that got the little guy’s tail thumping. “I can label it later.”

Danny gave him a genuine smile then, looking almost proud. “Ah. My bad, then. You just had freak-out face when you left.”

“Well, there’s ‘I’m probably bi,’ and there’s ‘you have a mate for all eternity, and also you have to be a vampire at some point.’”

“You know you don’t have to be anything,” Danny pointed out. “Free will still exists.”

“I’m not going to abandon Cass.” Blake’s voice came out harsher than he intended.

“I didn’t think you would,” Danny said mildly. “I’m just saying… Mates may be endgame, but you don’t have to start at the end. Why not start with trying to be boyfriends? But like, for real, not just for lying to hospital personnel.”

Blake straightened from his crouch. Boyfriends.

That didn’t sound half as scary. He pictured their now-familiar tradition of movies in bed, except this time he could kiss Cass whenever he wanted, anytime Cass said something too cute to handle, like listing the reasons the sci-fi movie they were watching had just broken the laws of physics.

Blake could rub Cass’s back, kiss his neck, not worry about popping some inopportune hard-on he told himself was reflexive because hey, those would be expected. He’d be cuddling with his boyfriend .

And they’d be like that couple at the fast-food place, arms around each other, sharing a plate of fries…

“Hey, can Cass still eat french fries?”

Danny’s eyes widened at the non sequitur. “As long as he gets enough blood, he can eat whatever he wants. His body pretty much functions like usual.”

Blake felt like a weight had just fallen off his shoulders. “Chill.” He gave the dog one last pat for good measure. “Okay, I’m off. Gonna ask Cass to be my boyfriend.”

“It was that easy, huh? I barely had to talk you off the ledge at all.”

Blake shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I’m pretty simple. Always have been. Kind of boring, actually. But Cass doesn’t seem to mind.”

Danny had a small smile on his face. “No, I’d say he doesn’t.”