Chapter Text
One of the things that is detestable to Joe is that despite being a vampire for as long as he has, he still hated his fangs sometimes; food isn’t a problem anymore, not since he ran into a few vampires on the coast that informed him that coconut water is a great substitute for needing blood, but when he felt the need for blood he’d just call Patrick and ask if he could bring a few blood bags back to his apartment. Now what his fangs got in the way of was usually something simple; the plastic of the blood bag, when he’d drink coconut water and they’d drag against a glass or small cup, or when he’d accidentally prick his own skin or bottom lip. Now though, what was starting to get infuriating was his time with Patrick.
Ah, yes, Patrick; there were many humans over the years that Joe had fallen in love with, many people he’d befriended and considered important to him, and Patrick was one of the few he wanted to turn. How did he met him though, this man named Patrick? Well that was more of an accident than anything. As happens sometimes Joe began to make a reputation for himself, the town whispering and creating urban legends about a blood drinking monster roaming the streets and living in the cemetery nearby. A few of those rumors were true but they weren’t Joe killing people, other vampires that Joe took care of caused the death of many people and that was how He’d met Patrick. Joe had been looking for a quick meal himself when he’d heard screaming, panicked mortal screaming he was all too familiar with, and found himself running to an alley behind a building.
Some vampire Joe had only seen roaming around the town a few times had a young man pinned to the wall, arms twisted at an awkward angle and fangs inches away from the mortal’s neck; Joe acted fast, centuries of being a vampire had given him plenty of fighting experience, and quickly he killed the attacker. He looked back to see the young man passed out, his breathing was shallow and when Joe checked him over he found no fang marks but a few bruises that looked pretty deep. Another benefit of being a vampire was the inhuman strength, he scooped up the young man and quickly made his way to the south exit of the town where he lived; Joe had picked the house specifically to stay away from people incase they noticed how he didn’t seem to head out that often or the fact that he always made sure to have sunglasses on and a hood up.
Joe had put the young man in his guest room and while debating what to do finally decided on leaving him a quick written note (would that seem like he’d been kidnapped? Joe was already mentally preparing for getting the shit kicked out of him in the morning). He checked on the young man again, the bruises had him worried and Joe wondered if maybe he had a broken wrist with the way the skin was red and looked like it was swelling. Carefully Joe gently moved it and created a sort of pillow-like lump with the blankets the young man was passed out to lay on it; Joe paused and looked him over again, he was dressed in scrubs and smelled faintly of Saline. Was he a nurse? Maybe, Joe would see in the morning if he had a chance to talk to him instead of having to run to a new town.
Surprisingly though that morning Joe didn’t get the shit kicked out of him, instead he woke up to find the note he’d written with a message the young man-now he knew his name to be Patrick-left behind explaining that he was grateful to him for saving him last night and that he wouldn’t report that he’d kill some guy. While Joe was glad he didn’t have to jump town he was a little disappointed though for what he didn’t know-well, at least he didn’t know until later that evening he was walking by a clinic that he’d snuck into to steal some blood bags from; as he rounded a corner to the bus stop he’d crashed into someone, Joe managing to stay on his feet while the other fell on his bottom.
“Shit, I’m sorry, you alright?” Joe held his hand out and pulled the other up, his heart stopping (well figuratively stopping)
“You” the other-Patrick-said with surprise, blue eyes ringed with gold catching Joe in a sort of trance “I-thank you”
Joe blinked, huh? He let go of Patrick’s hand and backed up a bit “um, what?”
“For-you saved me, thank you. I thought that guy was gonna do something bad” Patrick laughed weakly and started to rub his wrist when he flinched violently with a hiss “um, I’m sorry for leaving so abruptly but I had work really early the next morning and I didn’t want to wake you up incase you…” he trailed off and Joe was split on wanting to prompt him to continue or simply put him under a spell “I wasn’t sure if you’d try drinking me too”
“You thought I brought you home for food?” Joe didn’t bother hiding the hurt in his voice, though he regretted it as those blue eyes looked back into his
“No! No I just-I wasn’t sure if me waking you up would’ve scared you and you attack me accidentally-” the bus racing by cut Patrick off and panic filtered his apologetic expression “Fuck-that was my ride home”
And so Joe offered again to let Patrick go home with him, this time Patrick being able to say yes or no; he was genuinely surprised that Patrick said yes and even more so when he found Patrick knew Joe was a vampire.
After that night a strange friendship seemed to bloom, Patrick bringing Joe food and giving him company while Joe protected Patrick and even sometimes helped the nurse when there was someone sick at the hospital. Then came the night when Joe began to hate his fangs again; Patrick had come by to spend time with him and the two had stayed on the couch and watched movies, Joe listening to Patrick’s day and Patrick doing the same though Joe didn’t have anything new to say. It was later in the evening then, about 7, and Patrick had progressively begun to lay himself against Joe until his head rested under Joe’s jaw and his body fitted perfectly against the vampire. The mortal was starting to fall asleep, Joe could tell from the way Patrick’s breathing was softening and his heartbeat was calming down; looking up at the clock above the tv Joe noticed it was getting pretty late and Patrick probably had work early in the morning.
“Hey, Patrick?” Joe nudged him gently, Patrick only made a small noise and wiggled closer to him “Patrick come on, I don’t have any body heat I’m not that comfortable”
Again Patrick only made a noise in response; Joe sighed and pried himself away from the clinging man, Patrick whined and started to wake up finally. Joe rolled his eyes at Patrick’s glare, as much as the man could give the dirtiest look Joe was always in love with those beautiful blue-gold eyes. Joe walked Patrick to the front door and the two stood on the porch, this was their usual goodbye ritual and it always ended with Joe hugging Patrick a few minutes longer than maybe he should have before letting go and watching him drive home; this time was different though when Joe pulled away Patrick suddenly grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down to Patrick’s level, then he pressed his lips to Joe’s firmly in a very awkward kiss.
That caught him off guard, not that it wasn’t welcome because wow Patrick had very soft lips, but more because as much as Joe had begun to fall in love with Patrick he assumed the mortal saw him as a friend (though these assumptions weren’t really built on solid notions). When Joe didn’t kiss back he felt Patrick begin to deflate a bit and started to move away when Joe’s hand curled around Patrick’s neck to pull him back into a harsh kiss. First Patrick made a happy sound, he started to loop his arms around Joe’s neck when he squealed and jerked back; Joe let him as he too stepped back to cover his mouth as horror and guilt bubbled up, Patrick’s hand coming up to touch his lower lip as bright red pearls bubbled up. Joe opened his mouth to apologize but his whole body froze, still as a statue when blood touched his tongue and the taste sent his Vampiric hunger into predator mode.
“Shit, I’m sorry Joe I-” Patrick began but stopped when he noticed the blue of Joe’s eyes were practically swallowed up with black “J...Joe?”
Joe wasn’t seeing Patrick anymore, not how he usually did; instead of Patrick there was now prey in front of him, heart beating rapidly like a rabbit and the blood starting to drip down from the wound. Patrick shrieked when Joe slammed him against the wall, one hand grabbing Patrick’s wrists in a painful iron grip and the other tangling into Patrick’s hair to jerk his head aside to give Joe better access to his neck. Instincts taking over the vampire wasn’t aware of the world around him anymore, just the feeling of skin breaking under his teeth and blood filling his mouth; he didn’t hear Patrick scream and didn’t feel Patrick’s wrists finally breaking free from Joe’s hold and the nails digging into his shoulders. Joe only came back to the real world when Patrick choked out his name; it was like everything came back in hyper focus and Joe jerked shoved himself away from the man, Patrick sinking to the ground and clamping his hands over the wound on his neck.
Fuck.
Joe couldn’t say anything; it was like some spectral hand had wrapped itself around his throat and constricted his voice, Patrick stood up on shaky legs and ran unsteadily past Joe to his car Joe was still standing on his porch when Patrick was long gone, still standing there before finally heading inside as the sun came up.
One of the things that is detestable to Joe is that despite being a vampire for as long as he has, he hated being a vampire.