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Chapter Text

Guillermo walked into the house, making a direct line towards his bedroom. He pulled open the curtains with the least care he could muster, and started throwing his stuff inside a bag. 

The stuff that wasn’t already in the suitcase he’d brought to London, anyway. 

The act almost felt familiar, after the other times he’d had already done it, for all different reasons. He decided to ignore the memory of the last time he’d packed up all his things inside a suitcase, when the plan was to go on that journey around the world with Nandor, in favor to focus on the reason he was doing it now.

It had to be permanent this time, or he’d know he would never leave again. It was the last straw. It had to be.

“Guillermo?” Nandor’s voice echoed through the house like the universe had decided to laugh at him once again.

Guillermo didn’t answer, but it was only a matter of seconds until the vampire appeared behind him.

“Guillermo, what are you doing? You’re supposed to un -pack after you come back, not pack again ,” he said, his tone almost joking, like he found it funny that he had to explain such a simple concept to him.

Guillermo should have really waited for the daytime, when the vampires were sleeping, because those stakes he had just put inside the bag were feeling kind of tempting now.

“I’m leaving,” he said, trying to stay calm, because if he didn’t he would have ended up letting out all of the emotions he was feeling at the moment, and it wasn’t the best option.

“What do you mean? You just got back,” Nandor asked, sounding clearly confused.

Breathe in. Breathe out. He finished packing, when Nandor spoke again.

“Are you going back? How did the trip go?”

Guillermo turned around. “Oh, really well. In fact, when I reached Freddie’s home, I spotted him kissing someone else.”

Nandor stared for a second. “Are you being sarcastic?”

“Yes, I’m being very sarcastic! Do you want to guess who it was? It was the fucking version of Freddie that you created!”

“Are you sure-” he tried to suggest.

Guillermo cut him off, picking his bag up and walking past Nandor, heading for the door. “Colin is old enough now and your wedding was a success , so I’m leaving. For good. As I already said I would.”

Nandor basically appeared in front of Guillermo, standing in the way before the door. “What? Why?”

Oh, we’re doing this then. “Why? You do realize that you fucked up something that made me incredibly happy because you couldn’t bear the thought of something not concerning yourself? I told you this was my first actual relationship, and that it was extremely important to me, but you just had to ruin it all.”

“It’s not my fault-!”

He was not going to hear it. “Let me leave, Nandor.”

Nandor had the decency to look upset. “Guillermo-”

Guillermo grabbed the crucifix he kept around his neck, under his clothes, and displayed it on top of his shirt. Nandor hissed and moved out of the way, instinctively.

Guillermo opened the door and slammed it shut behind him.

“Leave me alone, guys, I mean it,” he told the documentary crew following him. “I’m done.”

Chapter Text

“Guillermo has been gone for a while.” 

Nandor was sitting in front of the camera. 

“I honestly don’t know why this would be completely my fault. It’s not like I made his Freddie kiss my Freddie. And I mean, would it even be cheating if it’s with himself?”

The camera panned on the Djinn, sitting in the corner of the room, pinching the bridge of their nose.

“I didn’t want to make it about myself! I just really liked Freddie. I wanted what he had with Guillermo-”

“Do you mean,” the Djinn leaned towards him, interest picked. “you wanted what Guillermo had with him.”

“I-” Nandor frowned, thinking about it for a second. Then shook his head. “Yes, that’s what I meant! It’s the same thing.”

“Is it?”

“Anyway,” he waved off the Djinn. “I just wanted what Guillermo had with him because it’s what I wanted with Marwa, which sadly hadn’t worked.”

“And why do you think that is?”

“Are you interviewing me now? Let me finish the thing with the camera.”

“I’m sorry, I’m just curious as to why over 50 wishes weren’t enough to satisfy your desire. You know, work stuff.”

“Well, I guess it’s because I… made too many changes to her?”

The Djinn nodded, encouraging him to go on. 

“I just wanted the perfect relationship.”

“And what would be the perfect relationship to you?”

“Yeesh! I don’t know. It would have worked if I had known, wouldn’t it?”

The Djinn shrugged. “So you’re saying you were going in the wrong direction?”

“Yes, yes. I get it. You’re teaching me a lesson that I should be looking for someone I already like without wanting to change them or myself and all of that bullshit.”

“Please, do go on. I want to see if I… taught the lesson well enough.”

Nandor sighed dramatically. “I should pursue a relationship with someone that doesn’t require me to wish for the world’s biggest dick or to wish for the other person to like everything I like or to wish for the other person to stay at home when I go out or to wish for the other person to become a clone of a third person,” he said, like he was reciting a list he had to learn by heart.

“So you should be with someone who already likes you the way you are, that you like being with even if you disagree on some things, and that you miss when they aren’t there.”

“Yes,” Nandor rolled his eyes. He just said all that stuff. 

“Very well. You can go back to your interview talking about how you miss Guillermo now.”

“Thank you. Finally.” Nandor faced the camera again, opened his mouth to start talking again, then closed it.

He frowned, looking back at the Djinn. “Hey. I didn’t say I miss him. I just said I don’t understand why he left.”

Someone from behind the camera asked a question. 

Nandor looked at them. “No, I didn’t want him to leave! Why would I want Guillermo to leave?”

…

Guillermo had stayed with his mom for a few days. He still had money left from the club, so he could get a place for himself at some point, but he didn’t feel like being alone at the moment. 

He spotted the camera crew a couple of times, but he mostly ignored it. If he wouldn’t go back to the vampire’s house, they would eventually leave, right?

…

“What was that Guillermo thing?” Nandor asked, after having rubbed the lamp to summon the Djinn. 

“What Guillermo thing?”

“That thing you said about me missing him.”

The Djinn raised an eyebrow. “That was two days ago. Have you been thinking about it?”

“Of course I have! What did you mean?”

“What I said. That you could keep talking about missing Guillermo.”

“I do not miss Guillermo.”

“Is that why we’re here talking about it?”

Nandor looked visibly annoyed. “We are talking about it because I don’t want you to think that I miss Guillermo because I don’t! I’ve never missed him the other times he left and I sure don’t miss him now. So stop thinking that I miss him!”

“Okay.”

“Good. Because I don’t.”

“Of course.”

“I don’t miss Guillermo, he can do whatever he wants. He can go wherever he wants. I don’t need him here. He was not a familiar anymore anyway. And I don’t need a bodyguard, I am perfectly able to protect myself.”

“Then why was he staying here?”

Nandor paused from his rant. “What do you mean?”

“Why did you let him stay here anyway, if you didn’t need him around?”

Nandor gaped a little, then looked away. “I guess I wanted him to.”

“You wanted him to stay here?”

“Yes.”

“So you miss him when he’s not here?”

He looked back at the Djinn. “Maybe.”

The Djinn stared at him.

“Okay, yes, fine! I do miss him, are you happy now? I miss him and he’s gone. He left ‘for good’ ,” he air quoted what Guillermo had said. “And I think he meant it, because he hasn’t come back yet like the other times.”

“Why do you miss him?”

“I don’t know! I like when he’s around! I like when he’s here and we can do things together. Even when we fight. I like that he’s started standing up for himself, but now he actually left and I didn’t want him to. He has always come back, why hasn’t he now?”

“Did you apologize? For what happened?”

“It wasn’t my fault. I just wanted what Freddie had with Guillermo. They looked happy and I wanted it too.”

“You wanted it with Guillermo?”

“Yes!” Nandor said. Then he stayed silent for a minute. “Oh.”

“ Oh, ” the Djinn echoed.

…

Guillermo was sitting on a bench in the park. It was late at night, and the place was deserted, which seemed like the best chance to just clear his head. Then he felt it.

“I thought I made it pretty clear that I wanted to be left alone,” he said, without looking up.

“I just want to talk to you,” Nandor said, standing next to the bench.

Guillermo looked at him. “I don’t have anything to talk to you about.”

“Then just listen to me. Please. And then you can tell me to leave and I will.”

Guillermo sighed and nodded, looking away from Nandor and ahead of him. It would probably be easier to let Nandor say whatever he thought could pass as a decent apology, and tell him to go away, and maybe he would.

“I have done some thinking. I have realized what I did was very wrong and selfish. I didn’t mean to ruin your relationship.”

“Too little, too late.”

“I’m really sorry, Guillermo. I did not mean to make you upset. I just wanted what you had with him. But I realize that my solution was not the best choice.”

Guillermo frowned, looking back at him. Nandor was looking down at the floor, fidgeting with his own hands. He kept talking. “I don’t want you to leave, but I want you to be happy.”

He produced the Djinn lamp from under his cape. 

Guillermo stood from the bench. “What are you doing?”

Nandor didn’t say anything. He rubbed the lamp and the Djinn appeared.

“I wish for all the effects of my previous wishes to be undone, and so for Marwa to go back to being herself.”

The Djinn clicked their pen. “It is done.”

“There,” Nandor said. “You can go back to your Freddie, if you want.”

“Too late for that. He cheated on me. With the version you created, in case you forgot.”

“Guillermo-”

“No. You can’t keep disregarding my feelings and then hope that I’ll keep acting like nothing happened. That I’ll come back running because you keep saying you’re going to turn me into a vampire. I don’t care. I don’t want this to keep happening over and over again.”

“I understand that.”

“Do you?”

“I do! I don’t want to disregard your feelings, Guillermo! I want to make it up to you. Here,” he offered him the Djinn lamp. “Take this. You will make better choices.”

Guillermo didn’t take it. “Wh- You can’t do that,” he said, then turned to the Djinn. “Can he do that?”

The Djinn shrugged. “Yes.”

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t want a stupid wish that’ll backfire anyway.”

“Then how can I make this right?” Nandor sounded in pain.

“I don’t think you can this time.”

They just stared at each other. The Djinn vanished back into the lamp. 

“What do you hope will happen, Nandor?” Guillermo spoke again. “That I’ll just come back and keep being a familiar or a bodyguard or whatever for the rest of my life? After all of this, don’t you think I deserve better?”

“Of course you do!”

Guillermo stared at him, taken aback by his answer. 

“I don’t want you to come back and be ‘a familiar or a bodyguard or whatever’.”

“Then what do you want?” Guillermo felt like he was going to cry out of frustration and a million other feelings all together.

“I just want you to come back home with me. I want you to stay there with me because I like it when you’re there.”

Guillermo just looked at Nandor, trying to take in everything he’d been saying. Nandor kept talking. “I think I realized why I didn’t succeed in my journey looking for love.”

Guillermo scoffed at that. “Because you used countless wishes on turning a woman into an empty shell without her own ideas or her personality?”

“No. Yes. Also that. I fixed that, didn’t I?”

“Well, you also kind of should check she’s going to be okay now, because the last time she’s been alive it was over 700 years ago, so-”

“That’s not the point I’m trying to make, Guillermo.”

“Okay, go on.”

“Thank you. As I was saying, I didn’t succeed in looking for love because I was looking in the wrong direction. I’ve had it right in front of me for the past thirteen years.”

Nandor put away the lamp he was still holding, and then dropped down on one knee.

“Nandor, what the-”

“Guillermo de la Cruz, I am in love with you. Please give me a chance to make this all up to you and come back home with me.”

Guillermo said the only thing he could think of in that moment. “You cannot be serious right now.”

Nandor frowned. “I’m very serious!”

“Thirteen years and you realize now ? I spent most of that time being blindly in love with you and waiting for you to do something and then the moment I have the chance to finally get over you, you mess it all up and that’s when you tell me you’re in love with me?”

“You love me too?”

“Did you hear anything of everything else I said?”

“I did. That’s why I said I want to make it up to you.”

“Nandor-”

“I’ll turn you into a vampire right now, if you want. I gave you my word, didn’t I?”

Guillermo’s eyes widened in what was probably a comedic way.

“I mean it,” Nandor promised. “We don’t have to go all the way to Al Quolanudar. Even though I think it was a really nice idea...”

“Nandor-” Guillermo repeated.

“Marry me.”

Guillermo felt like he was about to faint. “Nandor, slow down a minute. God.”

Nandor hissed at the word.

“Oh, shut up,” Guillermo replied, sitting back down on the bench, still facing Nandor. He definitely needed a minute.

Nandor scooted closer to him, still on knee.

“Do you mean it?” Guillermo asked, after a few moments of silence. “Do you actually mean all of this?”

“I do. I’m in love with you, Guillermo. I don’t want you to leave. I never wanted you to.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“Hey!”

“ For how long? ” he asked, incredulous.

“How long what?“

“Have you… been in love. With me.”

“I think… I have been for a while. I just didn’t realize.”

“But you realized now.”

“I realized now,” Nandor confirmed.

“And you’re proposing.”

“I am proposing to you, Guillermo, yes. And asking you to forgive me.”

“I’m still incredibly mad at you.”

“That’s understandable.”

“Like, absolutely furious.”

“I get it.”

“You have so much to do to make it up to me.”

“I am ready to do that.”

Guillermo was softening up a little, despite trying not to. Enough to tease Nandor a little. “Mhh… all of that? Are you sure?”

“I am absolutely sure, Guillermo.”

“That’s a lot of things to do for me to forgive you.”

“Whatever you want, I will do my best to give it to you.”

Guillermo felt his heart do a couple of leaps in his chest. He looked at Nandor, still on his knee in front of him. “No.”

“No?” Nandor frowned, looking like a kicked puppy.

“I won’t marry you, not now,” Guillermo added. “But you can start by making it up to me.”

Nandor said nothing, studying Guillermo’s face.

“What I mean is,” Guillermo explained. “We need to do this properly. I don’t want to marry you and have actually solved nothing between us.”

Nandor started nodding. “Yes. Okay. I understand that. We will do this properly.”

They looked at each other for a second, then Nandor spoke again. “Does that mean we are…”

Guillermo smiled, and leaned towards him, planting a quick kiss on his lips. “We are.”

Nandor smiled wide, and Guillermo decided he could get used to that look on his face.

“Do you still want me to turn you now?”

Guillermo took a deep breath. “Maybe not right now. But I still want you to.” As much as it pained him to say this, it had to be like this. They had to focus on fixing whatever mess their relationship was in, before going through the whole vampire transformation deal.

Nandor nodded. “Then I will, the moment you’re ready. Can we go home now?”

“I think I’ll go back to my mom's tonight, actually. I can’t come back right now, it would feel like nothing changed.”

“But you can move to the big room!”

Guillermo actually considered for a second. “No,” he caught himself. “No, not now. I’ll take the big room when I come back.”

Nandor sighed. “Okay, fine.”

Guillermo stood up, and so did Nandor.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Guillermo said.

“Yes. Wait,” Nandor interrupted “How do I start making it up to you? What do I do?”

Guillermo leaned close, almost enough to touch Nandor’s nose with his own. He enjoyed the way Nandor looked down at his lips, before answering, “figure it out.”

He smiled a little more than intended at the look on Nandor’s face, then started leaving. “Tomorrow night. Here.”

Nandor nodded, still a little taken aback. “Tomorrow,” he said, watching as Guillermo walked away.

Chapter Text

“It’s been three weeks since Nandor and I have been testing this new dynamic of our relationship.”

Guillermo was back sitting in front of the camera for an interview.

“It’s going great, actually. I mean, not perfectly, we’re still… adjusting to this, but that’s why we’re taking things slow. And Nandor is actually putting a lot of effort into it. And I’m not surprised by this, but he’s been very romantic,” he explained, unable to stop smiling. His face almost hurt. 

“Like, almost dramatically sometimes. I’m not complaining!” he added, “it’s really cute. And it’s nice to have him doing sweet things for me after, well… over a decade of me doing everything he asked me for.” He raised his hands up in defense. “I did choose the familiar profession. It’s on me, kind of. But he could have behaved better on certain occasions. But that’s why we’re doing this! We’re fixing our relationship.”

“There’s not much else to say that you can’t see from the recordings, anyway. So, changing the subject, I have decided to look more into the Van Helsing ancestry thing. Which may sound weird at this moment in my life, but living with my mom after realizing that it affects the whole family, made me think about it more. I tried asking her a few things, trying to bring up the subject casually, but it’s not easy. Also, I don’t want to risk triggering some memories from the dinner with Nadja, so I’m going to look into it on my own.”

…

The following day Guillermo was walking inside a library, followed by the documentary crew. “I was too freaked out by the revelation when I first found out, but now that I’ve been embracing it for the past couple of years it feels right to finally learn about it,” he said to the cameras, walking around the shelves. “I mean, I already killed a lot of vampires. And I mean a lot , so. What could freak me out more than this, huh?”

…

“Guillermo said he was busy so he’s not going to come by tonight. Which gives me time to prepare a little something I’ve been thinking about,” Nandor told the camera, sitting on a couch, looking very proud of himself. “He said that he’s thinking about moving back here soon. I promised him the bigger room, but it’s not in the best condition, so I’m going to fix it for him!” 

…

“So. I found something fun,” Guillermo said to the camera, his voice high pitched. “I’ve been here the whole afternoon. I found it about an hour after looking into Van Helsing and vampire slayers stuff in general, and spent the rest of the time trying to find a source that said this thing was false and… I didn’t. I did find two extra ones that supported this theory though.” He let out a nervous laughter.

“Turns out that the entirety of the Van Helsing descendants, because of their innate abilities to fight vampires, can’t be turned into vampires. Isn’t that hilarious? The one thing I’ve wanted for my entire life is just not physically possible.” 

“Hi, sorry, we’re closing soon, so…” the voice of a librarian came from the other sound of the room.

Guillermo cleared his throat and looked towards them, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. “Yes, of course. I’m going back home now.”

…

Guillermo closed the front door behind him. “Nandor?”

The vampire rushed downstairs. “Guillermo! I thought you weren’t going to come here tonight,” he exclaimed, hugging him.

Guillermo hugged back, melting into the touch. “I know, but I just had a very long day, and I need to talk to you about something.”

“Of course! Can we do it outside? It’s such a beautiful evening!”

“I know you don’t have to worry too hard about this stuff, but it’s actually freezing outside,” Guillermo chuckled. “Can’t we go to your room or something? I really need to tell you this thing I saw today- what are you doing?”

Nandor was stopping him from taking more than two steps into the house, placing himself in front of him and pushing for them to go towards the door.

“Nothing! I just thought it would be romantic to be outside under the stars and all of that.”

Guillermo raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. “Uh-uh. What’s actually going on?”

Nandor sighed. “Fine! I was preparing a surprise for you, but it’s not finished yet.”

Guillermo lit up at that. “A surprise? For me?”

“Of course! I didn’t want you to see it yet, but if you had a hard day you might want to peek a little?”

“Aww. Really? I didn’t want to spoil it.”

“It’s okay. Come with me.” Nandor reached for Guillermo’s hand and started leading him upstairs. 

“You said you want to move back soon, so I thought it would be nice to prepare the big room in time, since it was a little damaged,” Nandor said, pushing the door open.

It was… something. There were branches sticking inside through the window, and even through the walls in a certain spot. There were two new objects (a bedside table and a rug), which raised the number of pieces of furniture present in the room up to four (adding up to the bed and the closet). There were holes in the wallpaper and the floor (mostly covered by the rug, which was probably the main function it was there for). The lamp on the ceiling flickered constantly, which was an improvement from when it wasn’t there at all.

It looked absolutely hideous and incredibly dangerous for any human being who would be stupid enough to try and live in there.

Guillermo loved it.

“Colin says that it needs chairs and that we should cover the holes on the wall, so I was planning on putting some paintings there,” Nandor explained nervously, when Guillermo didn’t say anything.

Guillermo started laughing, then turned around and wrapped his arms around Nandor’s neck, kissing him. “You’re so sweet. I love you.”

“Does that mean you like the room?”

“It’s adorable. But I might die if I spent a single night here.”

“What? No, I’m going to get rid of the branches on the wall, Guillermo.”

“We can finish fixing it together, if you want. Could be a date.”

Nandor smiled. “I’d like that.”

“Now can we go talk somewhere where we can sit without the whole room collapsing?”

“Don’t be dramatic. Even if you died, I could always turn you,” Nandor joked, and Guillermo’s stomach dropped.

“About that…”

…

They were sitting in Nandor’s room. Guillermo finished telling him what he had read a few hours earlier.

Nandor sat in silence for a few seconds, thinking. Then he spoke up. “When I said I didn’t want to curse you with vampirism, I meant it. It wasn’t just an excuse to not turn you.”

“Guess you don’t have to worry about that anymore…” Guillermo commented, bitterly.

“That was not what I meant, Guillermo. Let me finish.”

“Sorry, go on.”

“I did not want to burden you with something that made me miserable, because I didn’t want you to be miserable too. Since we’ve been together I have realized that the thought of being with you forever makes eternity feel less dooming. I’m actually looking forward to it.”

Guillermo swallowed back the tears. He was about to speak, but Nandor continued.

“It has also always been important to you, so it is important to me too. Which is why I know what my last wish will be for.” He handed the Djinn lamp to Guillermo. “Or, your wish, to be more precise.”

Guillermo’s voice was shaking. “Nandor… are you sure?”

“I was sure when I wanted to give it to you the first time, and I’m sure now.”

“It doesn’t have to be me, you know, you can wish for it yourself.”

“I’m not using wishes on other people anymore. It’s yours, do whatever you want with it. Whether it’s the vampirism thing or not. I will want to be with you forever regardless.”

Guillermo was fully crying now. He hugged Nandor as tight as he could. He leaned back after placing a kiss on his cheek.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too. My sweet, sweet Guillermo.” Nandor said, almost reverently, holding his face, before dropping his hands.

Guillermo stood up. He rubbed the lamp. The Djinn appeared in front of him.

“So you’re going to use the last wish?”

“Is it going to backfire? Teach me a lesson and all of that?”

The Djinn shrugged. “Only if there’s a lesson to be taught. It doesn’t always have to be negative, though.”

Guillermo took a deep breath, testing the wording of the sentence in his mind a couple of times anyway. “I wish for my Van Helsing vampire slayer blood to not interfere negatively with me being turned into a vampire.”

The Djinn had a hint of a smile on their face. Before Guillermo could worry too much about it, they clicked their pen. “It is done.”

All three of them stood in silence for a minute.

“Well? How do you feel?” Nandor asked.

“I don’t think I’m supposed to feel it,” Guillermo answered.

“No, but it has worked. My job here is done, it seems,” the Djinn said.

“You should stick around a little,” Guillermo offered. “At least long enough to come to the wedding.”

“The wedding?” Nandor asked.

Guillermo smiled, then turned to look at him. “If your proposal is still valid.”

Nandor got up so fast that Guillermo almost didn’t see him until he was holding him up in a hug, kissing all over his face.

Once he was placed back safely on the ground, Guillermo said, still giddy, “then yes. I will marry you.”

Chapter Text

The big room was habitable. It wasn’t falling apart as much anymore, and Guillermo thought it was good enough, since he was going to use it for a limited period of time, anyway.

Once he wasn’t going to need an actual bed anymore, he was going to have his coffin next to Nandor’s.

He had moved back shortly after the proposal, and even though the initial plan of taking things as slow as possible, neither of them could really wait much longer. 

Guillermo was sitting on the edge of his bed, deep in thought, when Nandor walked into the room and sat next to him, placing his head on Guillermo’s shoulder. He placed a few kisses on his neck. 

“What are you thinking about?”

Guillermo smiled at him. “Nothing, just… I wish there was a way to invite my family to the wedding, but having a bunch of vampire slayers in a room full of vampires would not be great.”

“Do you think we could hypnotize them?”

“I don’t think that’s going to do much, you can’t hypnotize them into not having Van Helsing blood.”

Nandor stayed silent for a while. “We could hypnotize them into not acting on their slayer instincts?”

Guillermo made a face. As much as he loved Nandor, he was not confident enough about his hypnosis abilities. They could have asked Laszlo and Nadja, but Guillermo really didn’t want to risk it, not after what happened last time. What if that kind hypnosis didn’t even work on them?

A thought crept into Guillermo’s head. He frowned. “Do you think I became immune to hypnosis because of my slayer blood?”

“Wasn’t it because we used it too much?”

“I thought so, but what if?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to find a way to have them here, my love?”

“It’s fine. Really. They, uh. They’re going to have to think I’m dead soon, anyway.”

Nandor hummed. “Are you okay?”

“I am. Just a little nervous, that’s all.”

“Good nervous or bad nervous?”

“I’m not going to object at our own wedding, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Guillermo reassured him, amused.

“It’s not like I have good past experiences!”

“Are you nervous too?”

“Yes! Of course I’m nervous.”

Guillermo turned towards him, and placed his arms around his shoulders. “Good nervous or bad nervous?” He smiled.

Nandor smiled back. “Very good nervous.”

Guillermo kissed him. After thirteen years he was afraid it would feel weird. It felt like the most natural thing in the world.

…

“What are you thinking about?” Guillermo asked.

It was the night before the wedding. Nandor and him were lying next to each other on Guillermo’s new bed. 

“Nothing.”

“I can basically hear you overthinking. What’s wrong?”

“Why did you not go back to Freddie?”

There was a moment of silence. The subject was brought up once again, as it was inevitable at this point. 

“He cheated on me, didn’t he?”

“It could have been the wish. Or the hypnosis.” Nandor’s voice sounded smaller than Guillermo had ever heard it. “Why did you not try fixing things with him ?”

Guillermo took a deep breath. “I… didn’t want to.”

“You seemed happy with him.”

“I was. He was the sweetest guy. As you would know…”

Nandor buried his face into Guillermo’s neck, making a sound of distress.

“Joking! I’m joking. I’m just teasing you.” He turned on the side to look at Nandor. “I had to lie to him, Nandor. About most of my life. I wanted something normal so desperately, especially when I was in London. I was upset and he was so kind and caring. I wanted that. But just because I was still in love with you. It was my attempt at moving on from you, which was never going to work anyway, probably.”

They looked at each other for a moment.

“Besides, he didn’t propose to me, so…”

Nandor smiled at that. He kissed Guillermo, and murmured an “I’m sorry” against his lips.

“I know.”

“I’m really sorry, Guillermo.”

“I know.”

“Are you still mad at me?”

Guillermo sighed. “Sometimes. But I forgave you.”

“Yes?”

“Yes. And I love you. So much.”

“I love you too, Guillermo.”

“Good. Now that that’s settled…” Guillermo trailed off, moving even closer to Nandor, kissing him.

Nandor made a happy sound, and moved his hands to hold Guillermo’s face.

“You know, I grew up learning that you’re supposed to stay apart on the night before the wedding,” Guillermo teased.

“Vampire wedding. Doesn’t count,” Nandor said against his neck.

“You’re also supposed to wait until the first wedding night.”

“Also doesn’t count.”

“Good.”

…

It was the night after the wedding. Nandor held Guillermo’s hand as he bit his neck.

Nandor held Guillermo’s hand as Guillermo drank his blood.

Nandor held Guillermo’s hand as he laid on the bed, lifeless.

Nandor held Guillermo’s hand as Guillermo opened his eyes again.