A soft drip filled the room. Specks of cooling crimson fell to the floor, calling the boy in the corner. It used to be his before she changed him.

"Sam, If I knew this was the alternative to couples counseling, I would have gone with you," The young man said. His body shaking as he tucked himself into a ball.

A silk-clad figure stepped out of the shadows.

"This is so much more than what we had, Stephen." Sam stepped towards him- her boots smearing the blood across the floor. "I'm going to show you the world."

A gaze crossed Stephen's eyes like pale filament.

"Is that a Disney reference? Are you seriously quoting Tarzan or something right now?"

"It's not Disney. Their copyright laws are insane."

"Well, It's not original, Samantha. No surprise there."

Sam surged towards Stephen and hissed in his face. Pointed teeth flashed danger.

"Oh, and I suppose the 'Artist' is without sin? You copied the last YA theme and added sex! You are just as bad. Don't high brow me, Twitter boy."

"Just tell me, how long does this last?" He waved to the decrepit room around them—a desiccated community center in the middle of Tacoma.

"My love..."

"Don't call me that. Not anymore."

"Stephen. This is forever."

He rose to his feet and let out a long sigh.

"Run that by me again?"

"It's forever. The blood, the teeth, shadows, etc. Aren't you the movie nerd? Thought you'd piece it together."

"But none of that is real..."

Samantha pulled Stephen into a hug. Her head rested on his gore-splattered chest.

"When I said I'll love you forever. I meant it. We didn't make to the alter, but not even death can do us apart."

They stood together, tiny salted drops landing in Samantha's hair. She looked up at the silent tears streaming from his face.

"What's wrong?"

Stephen laughs and chokes back a sob.

"Everything! Everything is wrong. If I knew this would be the 1% difference from our 99% compatibility on OkCupid, I would have never met up with you. I don't want forever. And I don't want you." He pushed away and staggered to the door.

He opened the door to a skyline that showed a faint glow over the horizon.

"There's only one way to make this right." Stephen ran out the door and into the street. He stood on the pavement like an escaped scarecrow- his clothes hanging off a newly bony frame. A look of peace and reverence crossed his face as the sun's rays came closer.

A braying horn and screeching tires broke the scene as a newspaper van mowed Stephen down.

Samantha shot out of the doorway and slid beneath the car before anyone could react.

The driver and passenger stopped screaming long enough to reverse the van- only to find a sewer grate left ajar ad a bloody trail that led towards it.

***

"All I'm saying is that it feels like a waste that I spent so much time tanning on a beach when I can't do it now."

"Poor baby, immortal life and the trade-off is being a little paler."

"I'm not complaining, I'm just saying."

"And I'm just saying maybe you should man up and adopt a spray tan habit like the rest of the working professionals."

"It's not the same!" Stephen said as Samantha copied his outstretched arms before sticking her tongue out at him.

"Maybe, I'll try anyway. There's no evidence anything bad will actually happen if I see the sun."

"You will literally explode, Stephen."

"How do you know that? Vampire wiki?"

"No, the curtain fell in the room where I got turned and a guy went up like a yuletide log."

"I don't believe you. You cant stop me if I want to try!"

"Actually, check this out. Stephen, I forbid you from stepping into the sun."

The Earth shook around Stephen as Samantha's words clanged like church bells.

"What was that?!"

"That's my 'you'll do what I say' voice. Kinky, right?" She blew him a kiss.

"I told you I didn't want to be turned and you KNOW I'm not into BDSM. What are you then, my 'Master'?"

Samantha's mouth curled into a wicked grin.

"Yes, yes I am."

***

"No, for the last time, We can't turn into bats."

"Ugh, what's the point then?"

"Fucking drama queen. Immortal life? Not aging?"

"Eh."

"Eh? We have something the Earth's billionaires would trade their entire fortunes for and it's a stale 'eh,' from you? Really, I thought you'd be more excited. Or at least grateful." Samantha muttered the last part.

"Grateful? We have gone over this. The last time you did something that made me feel grateful was when you went to your family's game night and let me have a night to myself."

"So you could play your strategy game that's basically work with a flavor of history? So glad I could help."

"It's not work! The Byzantine empire wasn't going to fall without my help!"

"Really?"

"Really."

"Not even when I edited your submissions? or when I fixed your riding jacket? Not then?"

"You know what I mean." He said, setting his jaw.

"What do you mean?"

"I was grateful for those things but you push too much, Sam. Hell, look at us now. We're standing in a sewer- immortal creatures of the night and you're pressing me about acts of service from two versions of ourselves that will NEVER exist again."

The slow stream of sewage and discarded items kept running to their side as they walked down the access path.

"Why couldn't you say these things before?"

Samantha stopped walking to look at Stephen. The gore had darkened to a black mass across his chest. His newly yellow eyes sunk into a formerly handsome face. His lips quivered as he stared back at her before looking away.

"Because I was scared. Scared that I'd lose you first if I said what I was feeling. Scared that you wouldn't deal with my opinions and just leave."

"You mean like you did."

"Yeah." He said and started to walk again.

"Do you think we would have been any good?"

"As what? Parents?"

"No. As mortals."

"Too late to guess now. But I'd go with no. Too much fear."

"And now?"

"Now? Too much unknown... I'm sorry, Sam." Stephen stopped walking.

"So am I. But it's okay." She said as she turned back towards him.

"How?"

"Because we've got a lot of time, you emotionally frozen idiot. Besides, I haven't taught you any of the cool stuff yet."

"Bats?!"

"No bats!" She swatted him on the head. "Better."

He stared at her expectantly.

"Flying."

***

"What do you mean you 'hate the moon'? Samantha said as she hung over the Seattle night sky with Stephen. The pair of them softly bouncing on the wind.

"Exactly what I said. I think it's dumb. A pale glowing rock in the middle of the sky? That's pretentious."

Samantha closed her eyes and counted to five before responding. "The moon can't be pretentious. It doesn't have a personality."

"It can and does. It's arrogant- floating like some sort of celestial guardian watching over the night. AND it controls the ocean? That's just overkill. If the moon were a superhero, it'd be a tacky mix of superman and batman. All righteous and powered to the point of being boring."

"I think this is why my mom told me not to fuck artists. It just clicked. You are actually insane. Huh." Her face is a slowly moving picture of realization.

"Insane? No, I'm just voicing the whispered thoughts everyone else is too afraid to say!"

"Afraid of who? The moon?"

Stephen's left eye twitched.

"Shh.. it might hear us." His eyes were darting side to side.

"Oh shit, I totally forgot we get paranoid when we need blood."

"What?"

"Buckle up, we're going on a food run."

"Buckle?"

A whoosh swept across the sky, and the pair were gone. Only the harsh glint of moonlight overhead held any reminder they had been there.