The stars were out.
It wasn't often that the night sky looked so clear in Hollow Ridge, but tonight it stretched like a velvet tapestry sprinkled with diamonds. The air was cool and still, crickets chirped lazily in the distance, and a breeze tousled the leaves like a sigh from the earth.
Alex sat on the hood of Liam's car, arms around his knees, his eyes fixed on the constellation-studded sky. The old school parking lot was deserted at this hour—classes had ended hours ago, but none of them had really gone home. They'd lingered. Watched. Waited.
And then they'd made their decision.
They'd go home. Pretend—for a little while longer—that things were normal. But that was tomorrow. Tonight still belonged to stars.
He heard the car door open softly, then shut again. Footsteps padded across gravel, slow, quiet. Liam didn't say anything as he climbed onto the hood next to him. He simply sat down, just close enough for their arms to brush.
"You always do this?" Liam asked after a pause. "Come out here and stare at the sky like some poetic little weirdo?"
Alex smiled. "Only on nights when the universe isn't actively trying to murder me."
Liam chuckled, his breath warm. "So, what are you thinking about, starboy?"
Alex leaned his head back, voice soft. "That I used to think the stars were so far away. Like they couldn't touch me. And now… everything feels close. Like I'm just waiting for one of them to fall."
Liam was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "What if one already did?"
Alex turned to look at him, eyebrow raised. "Is this your terrible attempt at flirting?"
"I mean, you are the one waxing poetic under the cosmos," Liam smirked. "I'm just meeting the moment."
Alex rolled his eyes, but a laugh escaped him anyway. "You're such an idiot."
"True," Liam said, leaning a little closer. "But I'm your idiot."
That silenced him.
Liam's eyes were glowing faintly again, that strange, golden ember hue that only came when the night was deep and he was letting his walls down. It wasn't monstrous—it was beautiful. The way his lashes cast shadows over his cheeks, how the light reflected softly in his pupils.
Alex looked at him for a long moment. "Do you think we're stupid for doing this?"
"This?"
"This… whatever this is. When there's monsters and hunters and ancient blood and… all of that?"
Liam's voice dropped lower, his tone gentler. "No. I think we're brave."
"You're literally a vampire. Don't you guys, like, romanticize suffering?"
Liam grinned. "Only if we get to kiss someone under the stars after."
Alex blinked. That grin. That annoying, charming, boyish grin.
Before he could stop himself—before he could talk himself out of it—he grabbed the collar of Liam's hoodie and pulled him in.
The kiss was messy. Not in a bad way. In the kind of way where lips crashed and their noses bumped and Liam gasped against his mouth in surprise. Alex didn't know what he was doing—he just knew he wanted more.
Liam kissed back like he'd been waiting for this moment. His hands came up to cradle Alex's jaw, and suddenly they weren't on the car hood anymore, not really. They were in the stars, or above them, or maybe inside them. There was heat and tension and something dangerously close to vulnerability.
Alex pulled back first, breathless, eyes wide.
Liam stared at him like he'd just been punched and kissed at the same time. "Wow," he said.
Alex was panting. "You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that."
"I have a very good idea," Liam said, voice thick.
A beat passed. Then:
"Your lips taste like apple juice," Liam teased.
Alex flushed. "That's because I literally drank apple juice five minutes ago."
"Romantic," Liam smirked. "You'll never forget this kiss now."
"Oh my God."
Liam laughed, forehead pressed against Alex's. "I'm serious. That was… intense."
Alex smiled, cheeks still warm. "It was."
They sat in silence for a little while after that, letting their hands touch, their pinkies curl together like shy teenagers. Because that's what they still were—teenagers caught between war and bloodlines and impossible legacies. But here, in this quiet parking lot under the stars, they got to be human for just a little longer.
Eventually, Alex said, "We should go home."
"Yeah," Liam agreed. "But let's not say goodbye just yet."
Alex nodded, resting his head on Liam's shoulder. "Okay. Just five more minutes."
—
The next morning brought the illusion of normal.
Harper met them both outside the school, arms crossed, eyes narrowing immediately. "You two are weirdly… smiley," she said. "What did I miss?"
"Nothing," Alex said quickly.
"Absolutely nothing," Liam echoed, far too fast.
Harper rolled her eyes. "Right. 'Nothing' now means blushing and walking shoulder-to-shoulder like two wolves in heat."
Alex turned crimson. "We are not—!"
Harper cut him off with a dramatic sigh. "Fine. Whatever. But remember, if this ends in drama, I am not choosing sides."
"You'd choose mine," Alex mumbled.
"I'd choose popcorn," Harper shot back.
Liam grinned. "I like her."
"I'm regretting everything already," Alex muttered.
—
That evening, Alex stepped into his house for the first time in days.
It was quiet. Unsettlingly so.
"Dad?" he called.
No answer.
He wandered into the kitchen. Still warm. A half-empty mug of coffee. Keys on the table. But no Marcus.
And something felt… off.
Alex's eyes narrowed. He moved through the house like a shadow, heart pounding. When he reached the hallway leading to his father's study, the door was slightly ajar.
He pushed it open.
There were maps pinned to the walls. Old, yellowing papers. Symbols. Vampiric sigils. Sketches of Liam's face—years younger, but unmistakable.
Files. So many files.
Alex stood frozen, reading his father's neat handwriting:
"Subject: Liam Therrow. Class: Daywalker. Bloodline: Royal. Dangerous. Unpredictable. Do not engage without backup."
The page trembled in his hands.
"Alex?" a voice called behind him.
He turned.
Marcus stood in the doorway, coat still on, eyes sharp as razors.
"What are you doing in my study?"
Alex's throat went dry.
There was no warmth in Marcus' expression. No fatherly concern. Only suspicion.
Only fear.
To be continued...