9. Finally Normal

" H arlow…" Foxx hesitated. "Moving…past the dhampir thing. I…I mean, when you went missing, I found your phone, and on it, you had several missed calls from someone nicknamed Nosy Fucker?"

"Right… You know about him now."

He didn't stop the man when Harlow gathered Foxx up and placed him on his lap, facing him.

The dhampir cleared his throat. "So…you remember the nightmares I told you about."

Foxx tilted his head. "Yes…?"

"And the night I said I ran to Tony thinking I was dying?"

Foxx rolled his eyes. "Harlow, you only told me this the other day. So, yes, old man, I do recall."

He wrinkled his nose when the man pinched it.

"Brat."

Batting his hand away, Foxx stuck his tongue out.

Harlow smiled, but then sighed. "Well, when Tony realized I wasn't dying, and that my problem was mental, he forced my ass to see his psychologist friend on the downlow. And I've been seeing him ever since."

Foxx frowned. "You called him that night… The night you told me you cared… Are you okay with telling me…why?"

Harlow threaded a hand through Foxx's hair, and his heart fluttered as the man pressed a kiss to his forehead, before pulling him against his chest, wrapping his arms around him. Foxx couldn't help but notice the man's body was a lot warmer than when he'd been ‘human'. Despite being related to vampires, did dhampirs run at the opposite end of the spectrum when it came to body temperature?

"To be honest, though I was seeing him, I refused to let Wes diagnose me. But that night…after hearing what you said, and listening to your doubts, I called him to tell him I'd changed my mind about that. Because… I just…want to know how much I can give you, before I end up hurting you."

Foxx's eyes widened. "You…called him because of me?" He slowly pulled back. "You…don't want to hurt me?"

Harlow scoffed. "Of course not! You're my brat. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. I…can't hurt you. I'd lose you then…and you're mine, so…losing you would be very inconvenient. You being mine…is sort of a permanent thing, in case you didn't know." The man cleared his throat awkwardly.

Foxx stared blankly, his brain bouncing between a whole lot of ‘ What the fuck?' and ‘A ww, Harlow said he doesn't want to lose me' .

Ugh…love was stupid. There were so many red flags there. The permanent thing was a big red fucking flag…yet…

Dammit, he didn't care. AWWW, HARLOW SAID HE DOESN'T WANT TO LOSE ME!!! AND ALASTAIR CLAIMED HARLOW WASN'T SWEET!!! Nonsense!

Foxx sniffled. Clinging to the man, he kissed the dhampir's cheek and beamed, "Thank you for caring."

"No problem, brat," Harlow chuckled.

"By the way, you should probably…call your doctor. He is aware something is up."

"I'll deal with him in a few weeks, when I figure out exactly what I'm going to do about him now that…I'm not human any longer. I guess…it's more that I wasn't ever human, but like you said, let's ignore that for now… I still think I should get diagnosed, but…"

Foxx gasped. "You realize that the whole dhampir thing means there is more to your…" the vampire hesitated, and then tapped his head.

"My fucked up head?"

"Yes," the man snorted. "There is more to your fucked up head than a…"

"Shitty childhood?"

Foxx rolled his eyes. "Yes, beyond that. Biologically, I mean, technically, you are normal, for your species."

Harlow barked out a laugh. "Wow, finally normal."

Foxx wrinkled his nose as he remembered something else that he'd learned of while in that parking lot. "Speaking of normal, or rather, something that's not normal. Why is there a camera somewhere near my front door?"

"Ummm, no reason?" the man said sheepishly.

"Harlow, why was your phone being sent pictures of my front entranceway?"

His eyes narrowed as the dhampir slowly glanced away.

"Harlow!"

Harlow sat at the kitchen island, his eyes following Foxx around. He couldn't help but flinch with each cabinet and drawer the man slammed as he pulled out baking sheets and various ingredients, all the while the vampire continued to grumble about the same thing he had been going on about for the last hour. "I can't believe you filled my house with cameras, Harlow!"

Rubbing at his head, he sighed. "I mean, I don't watch them. They are there in case someone appears on the pictures that shouldn't be here."

The man set a container full of flour on the counter, glaring fiercely. "Right, the pictures you obsessively receive in a text, that you, for some reason, don't delete." Suddenly, the glare disappeared, replaced by a fake smile. "Oh, by the way, here's your phone," Foxx said way too cheerfully as he reached into his pocket and set Harlow's phone on the counter.

Eyeing the smile with trepidation, he slowly pulled it towards him. "You know, I didn't keep them to look at, I just don't know how to delete them."

Harlow grimaced when Foxx didn't respond, his expression remaining the same. The man was just staring and waiting.

Picking his phone up, he flipped it open, cursing at the sight of the cracked screen. The crack went all the way across.

"Yeah…I found it like that," Foxx tsked. "It still turned on, at first, but it seems to have completely died since. Not the power, mind you, but the phone itself." The vampire didn't sound upset by that in the least.

Fucking hell… He closed the phone and set it down.

"But really, Harlow, CAMERAS?! Do you even realize the position you put me in?! Alastair is literally never going to let me move past this! Do you know how annoying he can be?! The man is?—"

The sound of the front door slamming open cut Foxx off, and both of them turned to look towards the hallway. Harlow winced as the noise seemed to pulse in his head. His brows rose as the vampire himself stormed in, holding a small white puppy.

"YOU!" Alastair hissed. "LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" The man lightly shook the puppy in their direction as he stomped closer.

"Alastair…y-you…need to leave. NOW!" Foxx said stiffly, yelling the last word.

"What?!" Alastair stopped in his tracks, looking stunned.

He wasn't sure he'd ever heard Foxx use such a harsh tone with the man. Harlow glanced at his boyfriend, frowning at how pale he'd gone.

"Leave, please…" Foxx almost whispered, before taking a deep breath, then loudly and firmly saying, "You need to leave. You can't be here right now."

Alastair took a step back, his eyes wide and confused. The vampire looked slightly hurt. "Foxx…?"

Ah, shit. This was…because of him, wasn't it? Fuck…

Alastair's gaze slipped to him, his eyes going even wider. "Foxx…when did you…?"

"Alastair, there is too much going on right now. I need you to leave!" Foxx was practically begging now in his tone, if not with his words.

The man took a step forward and Foxx hissed. "I SAID LEAVE!"

Alastair hesitated. "Foxx, you… You've never changed anyone before. I have. I can help. Whatever is going on, I can help. Let me help."

"You can't help us, now leave!"

The vampire clutched the puppy to his chest, the thing barking now. Alastair's gaze flicked back and forth from him to Foxx. "I can…"

Harlow sighed. "Foxx, why don't you?—"

"SHUT. UP!" Foxx snarled. His boyfriend's eyes had gone wide, the fear even more visible now. Where the man's hands were clenched on the counter, they were trembling.

He closed his mouth and nodded.

"Foxx…" Alastair started softly. "What's going on?"

"No," the vampire hissed.

Foxx's friend took a deep breath. "Foxx, whatever is going on, just know, I'll be here waiting to listen, once you are ready." Alastair's gaze traveled from Foxx to Harlow one last time, before he turned and left.