Waking up with his girlfriend's finger in his mouth was definitely not an ideal situation that Ryan wanted to find himself in yet it happened.
"I can explain…" Ryan defended himself as he let go of her arms but then he changed his mind after a quick thought. "Or no. I can't. What exactly happened?"
He was as confused as she was, racking his brain to recall the scene. Everything seemed as if recorded through the mist.
"This was supposed to be my line," Rose replied as she wiped her hand with a napkin. "Do you remember what you did?"
She seemed surprisingly more calm than he expected but he didn't know if that was a good or a bad sign.
"I do— but not clearly. I remember opening the doors only to get blinded by the wind. I turned around to check on you and saw your hand was bleeding. I'm not sure how to explain it but something inside of me clicked." Ryan described, doing his best to recall the details. "It felt as if the moment I have waited for finally come and the blood on your hand was something I have always wanted. My urges were so strong that I couldn't do anything other than following my desire to suck on it…"
Rose stayed silent, staring at his face deep in thought which made him nervous. He immediately added, "As weird as it sounds, I'm not lying. My body turned into a living fireball and only drinking your blood allowed me to calm down."
He wanted to grab her hand to show he meant it but as he extended his own, Ryan halted and drew it back. He figured how uncomfortable it must have been for her so he didn't want to scare her even further. After all, what girl would be okay in such a situation.
Even he was afraid of himself.
"Here."
Huh?
After a long pause, Rose suddenly extended her hand which confused him. He was already anxious about the situation as he knew how it could end from his past experiences.
"Silly, what are you waiting for?" Rose asked playfully. "I thought you wanted to hold my hand."
Ryan looked at her hand and slowly extended his own. He successfully wrapped his fingers with hers and sighed in relief.
"Thank you… I was scared for a second you will be afraid of me…" Ryan muttered.
It wasn't a simple hug or one kiss too much but rather a weird act of blood-sucking yet Rose was smiling and cheering him up, rubbing his hand with her thumb.
"Should I?" Rose questioned confused but he quickly shook his head, "No, no. Please. I would never hurt you."
"I know, I trust you," Rose nodded and assured, "Don't worry, I already promised I will help you. As long as you don't push me away, we will get to the bottom of this."
She grasped his second hand and added, "Together."
Ryan suddenly felt like crying happy tears but he held it back, only smiling with genuine happiness. He leaned forward and kissed her, wanting to express his feelings.
"How can you be so great and understanding? You make me want to squeeze you tightly and never let go…" Ryan expressed, looking deeply into her blue orbs. "Any other woman would already run away…"
"I'm not like any other woman," Rose replied simply to which he quickly confirmed with a nod. "You are definitely not."
Only then did he recall Rose's hand was hurt just now yet he was squeezing it tightly. He quickly inspected it carefully, "Does it still hurt? How did you start bleeding in the first place?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore thanks to your treatment and I don't know how I got cut. After the wind blew in the room, I must have hit something without feeling. It's nothing," Rose described and changed the topic, "We should rather talk about you."
"I'm not really sure what happened. It must be connected to my usual urges but I don't know how," Ryan explained confused. "I have seen blood many times in the past and I never experienced something like this. I never had urges to drink anyone's blood aside from yours today."
"Hmm… At least we now know that your urges were never controlled by your sexual desire only. It must be something else that causes it," Rose noted. "I have a crazy theory if you want to listen..."
"Sure. I'm open to anything," Ryan agreed without hesitation, having nothing to lose.
Rose looked at the doors as if checking if they are properly closed and then back at him, building the suspense with her pause. She squeezed his hands and finally spoke in all seriousness.
"You are not a normal human. You are a Vampire, Ryan."
Ryan was not expecting such a blow, looking at her in disbelief. He couldn't stop his eyes from blinking as if trying to check if she was joking but her serious expression didn't change.
"Are you serious…?" Ryan asked to make sure, thinking he heard wrong.
"Of course," Rose nodded eagerly. "Doesn't it all make sense? You have urges to drink blood and have trouble controlling your desires, going out of control. You are also very handsome and athletic like a real Vampire."
She stared at him, waiting for him to agree with her but he just couldn't.
"How do you explain that I never wanted to drink blood until now?" Ryan questioned her theory, trying to not outright reject it.
Rose seemed to have an answer prepared as she answered right away, "What if you only drink a certain type of blood? Mine is 0. What about you?"
"…" Ryan paused for a moment, not expecting she would go this far. "Mine is the same as yours but that doesn't prove that I'm a Vampire. I would be a really pitiful Vampire if all I could drink was one blood type."
"Good point," Rose acknowledged his input and proposed again, "What if you can only drink the blood of the person you really like?"
"…"
"You like me, right?" Rose questioned, pulling him closer. "If you don't like—"
"Of course I like you," Ryan replied immediately, stopping her words. "I have never met a woman that I liked more than you. I'm sure of it."
His confession was finally able to make Rose react with her usual shyness and blush cutely. She didn't look away this time and admitted as well, "I really like you too…"
Ryan couldn't help but swallow her into his arms as this time, wanting to cherish this moment for a little bit. She didn't mind and responded with the same, slipping her hands under his suit jacket.
"Is it a simple like or maybe a like like…?" Rose whispered hesitantly, their conversation suddenly shifting but he didn't need to think too much about the answer.
"You never gave me the reason to dislike you, always cheer me on, make me smile, trust me and understand me like no one else. I'm not sure if this is love that I feel but I never want to leave your side. I want to always protect you, hug, cuddle, kiss and listen to your voice as I fall asleep. Yeah, this is how I feel," Ryan confessed honestly, not scared that he will overwhelm her.
She already proved to him she valued honesty.
"Have you ever felt like this to someone else…?" Rose questioned softly as she pressed harder against his chest.
He could feel her heartbeat faster as she spoke.
"No. This is the first time…" Ryan replied, rubbing on her back when she pulled away on her own, exclaiming."
"Bingo!"