Vampire smiled and looked at the distance. The blackish sky was sparkling with stars shining all around the moon. It was a beautiful and romantic night, but my heart was in a mess. I stared at his figure and I didn’t even realize when my eyes began to blur. A tear dropped from the corner of my eyes, but I didn’t care about it anymore.
I wanted to hear what Vampire wanted to say.
Had he lied to me that day that he didn’t love me? If yes, then we would still be together.
Suddenly, an even more dangerous thought flashed through my head.
If not for the breakup, I wouldn’t have made up with my husband, and I wouldn’t have fallen for him all over again. Right now, even the thought of it made me want to die. I didn’t want to lose Lewis now that we had come back together.
But when I looked at Vampire’s lonely figure, I couldn’t help but feel my chest tightened.
All of a sudden, he turned toward me as our eyes met. My heart jumped in my chest before I managed to avert my eyes. No! I couldn’t fall for this guy again. Not after finally loving my husband again.
Just then, I heard Vampire’s voice again. “That’s the expression I was talking about. Do you still remember the night when I had asked you to stay with me for the night?”
Realization dawned on me as I remembered the night. It was the award day, and I was angry at Lewis for ruining my day with Vampire, but I still couldn’t go back with him because I was feeling guilty. So I went home instead.
But why was Vampire talking about that night?
“I originally wanted to see if you still had lingering emotions toward your husband. Although you claimed that you didn’t love him anymore, I had seen the way you two looked at each other. To be honest, I was selfish at first, but that day, when you rejected me for the first time, I realized that I had unintentionally sowed a discord between you two. I was the reason why a family was destroyed, and I couldn’t live with that.” Vampire turned away and took a deep breath before his hands went to the railings as he grasped it tightly. “From the look in your eyes, I could instantly tell that you still loved him, but denied it because of me. So I took charge of the situation as a man and backed away. But…. but I didn’t think forgetting you would be so difficult.”
My heart felt like it was shattering into pieces after listening to the entire truth. It was the most painful thing I had ever heard in my life. So that day, when we were at the coffee shop, he had said those words just to fool me into this breakup?
Now that I remembered it, I could clearly imagine Vampire’s cold face that was devoid of expression, but at that time, I had forgotten to focus on the eyes that were still moistened and fists that were clenched so hard that knuckles had appeared.
I was so self absorbed that I failed to see through Vampire’s emotions. I pursed my lips and lowered my head. I took a deep, shaky breath and said in a choked up voice, “You’re right. I loved him, and I only realized it after we broke up.”
Both of us stood like that for the entire time. Neither wanted to say anything, and nor did we want to go back home. Even though I knew that I loved my husband very much, I couldn’t forget Vampire. His place in my heart was special. Every time I had a problem, I would regard Vampire as a close friend and approach him for guidance.
But there was a deeper emotion that hid from everyone, that still yearned for Vampire’s embrace. But whenever I would go in that area, guilt would come to me as if haunting me like a ghost. It would throw me far away from Vampire, making me stumble in the dark.
I pursed my lips and decided to stop thinking about it. I knew the more I would think about it, the worse my heart would become. But what could I do?
I loved my husband, but I still yearned to be with Vampire. At least, as a friend, he could still be with me.
A tear dropped from my eyes as I reached out to wipe my face. At this time, I decided to change the topic again. “Lewis got a job at Webpad as my agent.”
Vampire’s lips curved up as a hint of nostalgia flashed in his eyes. “That’s great. I saw your new book. It’s kind of good. Did you write in order to vent your emotions?”
I pressed my lips in a thin line and didn’t deny it. It really was the case, and to me Vampire was the closest person except for Lewis.
Then, I suddenly turned toward him and said, “Vampire, I want to thank you for doing this. If it weren’t for you, me and Lewis would have drifted apart. I wouldn’t have realized the importance of friends and emotions in my heart. I wouldn’t have met such a wonderful person as you. I wouldn’t have understood what love actually meant. I really owe you a lot. So don’t disappear from my life ever again, okay?”
Vampire also turned toward me and stared at me for a long time before a chuckle escaped his lips. “No promises. I still need to recuperate. My heart is still injured.”
When I heard that, I couldn’t help but tear up again. And for the entire night, we just stood there in silence, staring at each other’s crying face. I knew that I probably wouldn’t see him again, but at least, I wouldn’t hate him anymore. I wouldn’t be plagued by nightmares.
I had realized why I had gotten nightmares in the first place. It was only because Vampire had rejected me, causing me to feel that I wasn’t someone who should be loved by someone. And the fact that I had cheated on Lewis made me feel so guilty that I was unable to get over it. Subconsciously, I considered Vampire’s deed of breaking up with me as my punishment. It almost felt like I had deserved such a thing for breaking my husband’s heart.
I had even thought that I would continue to live on and keep having nightmares as my retribution. But who would have thought that Vampire hadn’t broken up with me not because he never loved me, but it was the opposite. He loved me so much that he couldn’t bear to see me cry and lose myself everyday.
When the dusk arrived, Vampire blinked and glanced at the sky before saying, “We’re already married, you know? It wouldn’t be good for you if we had been in a relationship. Promise me that you will never leave your husband. Promise me that you’ll keep loving him no matter what and not fall for an unfortunate soul like me. Promise me, right now.”
Tears formed in my eyes all over again before I nodded with difficulty. I knew this was Vampire’s parting message, and we both didn’t know when we would see each other. But in my heart, he would always be a special existence.
He had made me realize that I was worth loving, and that I shouldn’t keep dwelling on the past.
That morning, when I went back home, I saw that my husband was still fast asleep. I smiled when I glanced at him. And before going to bed, I looked at my phone and unblocked Vampire before changing his status to: friends forever.
After that, I threw my phone aside before snuggling against my husband. I took a long sniff before I shifted even closer. Lewis woke up because of me. His eyes opened a little as he looked at me in confusion. “What time is it?” His voice was hoarse, making my heart itch.
“Shh… Sleep. It’s still not time yet.”
He immediately went back to sleep while hugging me closer, but I couldn’t sleep.
It was the 99th day after I met Vampire, and my life had turned upside down. The level of emotional ups and downs were far more than I could think of! But one good thing happened out of everything. I glanced at the sleeping form of my husband before pecking his lips.
I got my husband back.