“Nothing,” Luis said quickly.
“It’s from hiscat,” Karim said.
Julien’s brows went up. “Oh.”
Had they decided ‘cat’ was code for something?
“So uh, what’s for dinner?” Luis asked, trying to move the attention off of him.
Julien shared a look with Karim and then said, “Lasagna.”
In the center of the table was a covered casserole dish. Luis took his usual seat as Julien poured him a water
“It smells amazing,” Luis said.
Julien smiled, but it was dimmer than usual. He still looked troubled. “Yes.”
Karim reached over to remove the foil. “Have at it,” he said, gaze stuck on Luis.
##
Dinner went quick. Julien carried the conversation, talking about work and then asking how Luis’s week had gone. Luis avoided anything about his mother, apologizing instead for having beentoo busyto watch their movie of the week or play Karim in Words with Friends.
Karim’s furrowed brow told Luis he wasn’t buying that for a second.
“So uh, what’s the plan tonight? Are we going out?” Luis asked when they’d all moved to the living room after dinner. He didn’t need a bite this week, and he also felt… shy on the subject, so he didn’t bring it into the conversation.
“We can also stay in,” Julien suggested. “Do something different. We have bottled blood here.”
Karim made a face of disgust across the table.
“We should go out,” Luis said. He liked the idea of staying in, but maybe too much. Maybe he needed to stick with what was safe and familiar right now.
A look passed between the two vampires. “Are you sure?” Julien asked.
“Yeah. I wouldn’t want Karim to suffer through bottle blood,” Luis said.
Karim made a disgruntled sound like he wasn’t sure whether or not to be grateful. They exchanged another look that Luis pretended not to see.
And then they went out.
It was only on the drive back from the bar that it occurred to Luis how, despite his best efforts, tonight was still going to be different. In the back of the car Julien and Karim were drunk, and this time, instead of dropping them off at their door, Luis was going inside with them. Staying the night with them.
Sleeping with them–
No.Sleeping in their guest room. A normal thing that normal people did with friends. He’d stayed over Cassie’s all the time.
“Luis is staying, right?” Karim whispered to Julien when Luis had parked the car in front of the house. He did it in the manner of the drunk–too loud and believing he was being discreet.
“All weekend if we play our cards right,” Julien replied, accent thick.
Luis ignored a swirl of butterflies and got out of the car. The cool air helped. He rounded the car to help Julien with Karim. Luis had done this bit enough times that he was familiar with how best to wrap an arm around Karim’s middle to steady him. He was big, far too dense for Luis to even dream about carrying, but he could support him well enough to the door.
“We’re playing cards?” Karim asked, and Julien laughed.
At the door Luis put his key to the lock.
“We could, I suppose,” Julien said pensively.
