Opening the Can of Worms

"I mean, I guess, I don't know," for someone who was supposedly half immortal, it was kinda hard for her to understand everything. She hadn't been brought up with vampyres around, frankly she didn't think she had any vampyric friends that she was close with at least. Sure, classmates she had a plenty. The only real connection she had to vampyres was Eden, and he was barely around anyways. "Are you angry with me?" she asked, rather genuine because she felt so much regret, "it's alright if you are, I just ... Lately you've been so distant and I know what we talked about the other night - I just don't want to lose you." She was being very genuine. Jeremy meant a lot to her. He had been her go to every time she had a struggle, but this had put a strain on her. The fact that he smelled so inviting, it made her sick to think that. Kurtis smelled good too, but his blood hadn't been as addictive as seraphim blood, that was for sure. "I barely see anyone but Kurtis these days ... I'm so fucking scared that I'll do what I just did to you." Was it unreasonable that she tried isolating herself? Wanting to protect others around her was something she had always felt, but this made her a predator. This change had made everything so strange.

She didnt know? Well he couldnt blame her. She used to be a human, not very long ago. He wouldnt imagine not being a seraph. That change would probably also render him a little clueless and not sure what to do. Her question made him frown a little. Why would he be angry? She elaborated but he was still stuck on the question itself. He did feel a little anxious now ans restless but it wasnt her fault. “I’m not angry. You’re my best friend, Zaira.” He said, looking at her with serious eyes. “I’ve just also been busy. And now it’s just even more a mess because Damiano broke it off.” He said, unsure if he had even mentioned that before now. But he was sort of brushing over it just to spare himself the hurt. He looked at the time. He was not exactly for a deeper confrontation than the basics. Which was a little unlike him but he was still quite overwhelmed and then there was the growing feeling of restlessness? “I should go change, you too. We’ve got the same class now right?”

Once again it seemed that Jeremy was her voice of reason, but the fact that he voiced what had happened to him and Damiano made her sad. He had expressed something that might sound like a break up, but she wasn't sure if it had just been that night sort of thing. "I know, I'm sorry," as if Jeremy didn't have enough pressure on him to begin with. Zaira was once again left feeling selfish for her actions. It was as if she couldn't do or say anything without hurting those she cared for. Even Kurtis seemed more irritated lately, but that might as well been because of his family.
"Yeah, alright," she said, pulling up in her bag to look at Jeremy, "I'll go change; Meet me here afterwards and we'll walk to class?" she asked, just wanting him to know that she would join him. She went to go change.

Damiano had finished a class early, going out for a smoke as he spotted Zaira and Jeremy. Frowning he wasn't sure if it would be wise to approach, but soon enough the hybrid left and Damiano felt almost the need to draw closer to him. He had broken it off, it was his own fault that his heart was breaking. And yet he just couldn't seem to stay away. He cared about him too much. So even if his mind told him to stay away, his body was disobeying orders and walking up closer, "hi," he said, almost too casual and it hurt him inside. "What are you doing out of class? It's not like you to skip, I mean-" he cut himself off mid sentence as he saw the sports tape around his wrist, frowning at the sight. "Are you alright? Did you get hurt?" dropping the façade and showing how worried he was already. He cared about him, he couldn't fake that. Even if he would get ridiculed by some of the students later. Damiano felt almost desperate to reach out and touch him, yet restrained himself.

“Dont apologize Zaira. I’m really not angry with you.” He said, reaching out to give her hand a squeeze. I fact, he felt quite the opposite. It was a weird feeling. Maybe he would come to understand it. Her question made him nod as he got up as well. “Yep.” He voiced, feeling more at ease now that she wasnt going to flee from school grounds. He stood for a bit before she left, looking down at the tape that definitely wasnt holding up. But then again, it was made for sprains, not puncture wounds. So his blood had found a way to seep through. Hearing Damiano’s voice made him look up, his eyes unable to not look hurt as he saw the hybrid in front of him. What was he doing here? He had been the one to break it off. The hybrid pointed out the obvious of Jeremy not being in class until he seemed to notice the tape as well. “It’s nothing-“ he just said, lifting his wrist before covering it with his other hand so Damiano couldnt inspect it in the slightest. “Zaira was feeling shit, so I talked to her about it.” He said quite toneless. But he couldnt do this. He looked down and scoffed before he shook his head. “Why did you come over here? You made yourself very clear yesterday.”

Nothing? He had to scoff, seeing the tape dangling a bit as it had lost some of its stick to his skin. It was covered up, but Damiano still had a feeling that something weird was going on. But the harsh statement made him almost snap out of it. Looking down he felt almost ashamed. Right. "I guess I was just worried," he said quite honestly, frowning as he just looked at his feet before swallowing. It made sense that he didn't want him around anymore, but he couldn't just stop himself from wanting to look out for him. Even worse was Damiano had no-one to share this break up with. He was alone in this. Jeremy had Zaira to confide in, but he had only himself if he didn't want to out the nephilim.
"My, uh, my sister is coming to town next week and she's been asking about you," he said, feeling stupid to even ask this, "I know you don't want anyting to do with me now - But she still really looks up to you, and she wanted to know if you had the time to see her?" His sister had gotten a scholarship to a school out of the country, which his whole family was very proud of. "I'll just text her you're not interested." Turning on his heel to leave.

Just worried. Jeremy wanted to point out that it may be a little too late for that, but he swallowed those words as he saw how the hybrid didnt feel that good about their situation. He genuinely was just looking out for him wasnt he? Jeremy’s hand was however still clutched close around the covered wrist.
The mention of Damiano’s sister made Jeremy frown slightly. He had gotten along with her quite well. Then again, Jeremy was over all a likable guy, easy going and easy to talk to; as long as you werent trying to be his boyfriend. That was quite clear now. He couldnt see why he couldnt go see her. It would just be her right? Damiano turned to walk off, Jeremy released his grip to reach out and grab his jacket. “No-.. tell her I’ll see her. But you should probably also tell her that we’re..” he trailed off, glancing at the hand he had grabbed Damiano with, having collected a fine print of his hand in blood. The tape was struggling at this point, and it was making Jeremy a little nauseous. “I gotta go.” He said, letting go before he went back to the locker rooms. He had to sort out the mess or he felt like he would pass out.

Giana would be very happy to hear that, but there was something off about the smell right now. It was like the air was filled with metal? He frowned, turning around only to see Jeremy run for the changing rooms. He took off his jacket, seeing the bloody handprint and it made him worry even more. What was really going on? He took a few steps to follow Jeremy, but it was like his voice rang in his ears. Why did you come over here? You made yourself very clear yesterday. He stopped dead in his tracks, his hand curling up in a fist around the jacket. He was right, wasn't he? Damiano left, for his locker, placing his bloody jacket in there before continuing with his school day. Though it didn't stop him from worrying about Jeremy.

Zaira had managed to get changed, waiting out where they had agreed to meet. But as Jeremy hadn't showed up yet, she started to worry. Heading to the boys' locker room. She stepped inside, "Jere? Are you in here?" she called, not really caring if she saw some guys naked. No, she was more worried about Jeremy if anything.

“Yo Kurt!” One of the boys called inside the lockerroom as Zaira was spotted. Many of them covered up, Kurtis still drying his mess of hair. He frowned a little at the call but then he heard Zaira’s voice. Walking over, he kept his towel over his shoulders. “Babe?” He said, reaching out to grab her arms. “You’re in the boys room. Kind of infringing on privacy here. What’s going on?” He asked, frowning a little. He had heard her call but not Jeremy’s nickname.

She barely had realized there was guys in here, her mind sort of focused on one task. Then Kurtis touched her and she seemed to snap out of it, looking up at him a little confused. "I uh, I was looking for Jeremy; He promised we'd walk to class, but he hasn't showed ... Is he in here?" she asked, trying to look around and over his shoulder, only to see more guys hiding away. Gods, as if half the girls at school hadn't seen their junk already! Why were they so prudish? She looked at Kurtis, and a different feeling started to blossom. The blood in her system made her a little aloof, and perhaps more prone to noticing how handsome Kurtis looked. He would be able to feel that from her, the fact that just looking at him was actually turning her on a little. "Sorry, I guess I didn't think," which was probably what made the most sense.

He was pretty sure that if she wanted something from him, she would just text him and then he’d go find her. So this was different. He wasnt sure he liked it when the other guys seemed irritated with it. Her question made him frown a little. “Uhh… he came in with some sort of injury. Some of the guys took him to the nurse to have her look at it-“ he stopped as he began picking up on her feelings, raising his eyebrows a little. She was usually like this after she had fed. But thick head Kurtis didnt put two and two together, just yet.. “It’s alright. Do you want to grab some lunch?” He asked, taking his hands off of her before she began affecting him as well.

Zaira frowned but ultimately nodded, noticing how he removed his hands from her. He could feel what she felt, so she didn't mind if he needed a break. "Yeah, lunch ... Uhm, I got a bit of time before my next class, but I wanna go check up on Jeremy," she admitted, sending him an apologetic smile. She was usually busy at school, always chatting to some friends or hanging out with the cheer squad. "How about dinner tonight instead? We could make lasagna?" she suggested, because it was a dish she had found she could rather easily add blood to without it freaking either of them out. "And we could watch a movie?" she suggested, though in their world it was codeword for something way more explicit than that.

He couldnt really argue with what she wanted but seeing that he was still pissed at Jeremy, it did sting just a little bit. He couldnt really hide the annoyance, but the nephilim had fucked up pretty bad. Kurtis didnt care if he had been cheating or whatever, but dragging friends into it as well was where he set the bar. Her suggestion made him sigh, a small smile creeping up on his lips. The addition made him scoff. “Alright, alright, why dont you run off to find Jeremy instead of sucking up to me?” He shooed her, shaking his head at her.

"You just love seeing me go, huh dumbass?" she teased, leaning in for a brief kiss before she yelled out a rather large, "I'm sorry!" only to be running out the door. She headed straight up to the nurse's office, feeling a bit unsure now that she had gotten there. The nurse would've seen the punctures, right? Her status as a hybrid wasn't yet in the school files, so maybe she would fly under the radar for now, but she knocked carefully at the door, thinking being polite might be the best option. Sure, she could be a trouble maker, but her skill was in manipulating the adults. She had an excellent career in acting waiting for her, if she so chose to pursue it.

He tease made him scoff again but he greeted her kiss gladly. “You better be!” He yelled back as she ran off, standing for a bit before he went to get dressed completely. He smudged some eyeliner under his eyes and ruffled up the thick hair. Though he did wonder how the hybrid was doing in all this. Surely there had been a confrontation. Kurtis decided to go look for him while Zaira was finding Jeremy.

Damiano was out by the smoking shed, having a half smoked cigarette between his lips as he was just scrolling through his phone. Smoking was his relax time, his time away from class that he could focus on something else. He was feeling a bit creepy though, as he was actually looking at posts of or with Jeremy in them. Was he trying to torture himself? Maybe a little. He needed that rough and tough reminder that the nephilim had never even posted about him on any social media app. As soon as Jeremy had left yesterday, he had broken down, reverting to his self harming ways. Today he was wearing a bit looser of a fit in pants because of it. He texted his sister that Jeremy was still up to see her, but warned her about their status. She would undoubtedly get very angry at him, but it was how it was going to be.

Finding the hybrid sulking in the shed was somehow not what Kurtis had hoped for. But then again, if he had been happy and cheery then what would that have said of the relationship that had been going on between the hybrid and nephilim. “Hey.” He called, just to announce that he was there. He pulled a cigarette from his pack and lit it. “You good? Or is it just all shit?” He asked before drawing in a deep drag of smoke.

Hearing the familiar voice he looked up, putting his phone away in his pocket as he saw Giana was texting back. He was sure he didn't want to read that message just yet. He hummed softly, inhaling from his smoke that was already close to dying anyways. "Could've been better," he just said. Kurtis didn't have to do this. Under normal circumstances the two of them might never even talk, but the lycan seemed very focused on being there, so he wouldn't dismiss him. "I broke it off," he said, killing the cigarette against the wall, heading for the exit to the shed. He didn't want to talk about it.

Damiano looked at Kurtis as he blocked his way. It was so clear in the hybrid's eyes just how much in pain he was internally. He knew he could've been a better guy for Jeremy, could've made everything more easy, but they were both flawed. "He didn't cheat on me," he didn't mind coming out in the end as a villain. Kurtis was right. He couldn't talk to anyone about this, and it was eating him up on the inside. "But he still refused to be with me," he said. That was what hurt the most. A hurt that went beyond his chest and had spread to his whole body at this point. "And now he probably hates me." A scoff left his lips as he wasn't even sure what else there was to say.

Yeah, he could see that hurt. And it probably wouldnt go away if the hybrid kept it in. He spoke and Kurtis listened, though it was a bit of a surprise. If Jeremy hadnt been cheating then what had happened? He pushed his curiousity away because it wasnt right to get involved. He could almost guess that Jeremy wasnt ready to commit. But Kurtis also knew his parents. They werent just someone you came out to. The last part made him frown. Somehow he didnt believe it. “Hate you? That makes no sense.” He argued. “He’s been sulking like crazy. I mean I havent talked to him but its so easy to see.”

"I know ... I can see he hasn't been eating enough as well," he said with a sigh, lifting his hand to pinch his nosebridge in frustration. The nephilim probably thought I wasn't noticeable, but when you knew what to look for, it was easy to spot. "I love him ... But I don't think he's ready to be loved," he said, feeling his chest tighten in a knot. It hurt so bad. He had to reach out and grab on to the wall, just to stabilise himself a little, "fuck it hurts," he muttered, closing his eyes as he tried to focus on something else. "I just ... I wish I could be less selfish," he admitted.

"This isn't about who's fault it is," he disagreed. No he was way past that, frowning as he looked at the ground, thinking his words through. Damiano loved Jeremy. It wasn't just a mindless crush or something between teenagers. It was something deeper. "I broke it off because I want him to find out how he can love himself ... I never said I'd never be with him again, I just ... Fuck Kurtis, haven't you ever felt this broken over something with Zaira?" he asked. He needed to know how he could get through this. The first weeks, perhaps months, would be rough. But there had to be a silver lining somewhere. Shaking his head he looked to the lycan, "I'm going against everything in me; I want to be with him, I want to hold him, but how can I do that when there's always the risk of someone finding out?" He thought of the blackmail, the thought filling his brain with anger that he tried to shake off. "The reason why he was distant was because he was being blackmailed by some rando," he said in a hushed voice, not wanting anyone to hear.