"How's my angel doing?" Chris mused to me as he kissed me awake.

          His hand ran along my arm with a touch as light as a feather. It actually tickled me, causing me to sleepily giggle. I opened my eyes and saw him smiling beautifully. After a little cat nap, all the pain had subsided. I felt invigorated, as a matter of fact. Somehow this undead man breathed new life into me.

          I latched my arms around his neck and smashed our lips together in a lively kiss. We both smiled into each other. Chris wrapped his arm around my side. I pulled back, unable to wipe the smile from my face.

          "I'll take that as good." He spoke with a wide grin. His fangs were peaking out of his gums, which made his toothy smile even more adorable.

          "Better than good." I replied, "I take it you're a little hungry?"

          His smile dropped a bit, "Huh?"

          "Your fangs are coming out. It's okay. It's cute."

          Chris blushed, "Yeah? You think so? Well, I mean, I am hungry but we're going to eat in about an hour. That's actually why I came to get you up; So you could have time to get ready. It's Ricky and Ghost's anniversary dinner and I don't want you to miss it. Plus I need a daaate..."

          "I'm kind of your date for the rest of your life now. You're stuck with me." I teased him. I got off the bed and started to walk down the hall to my room.

          "On the contrary, you're the one stuck with me." He responded as he followed me. I glanced back at him, about to detest, but he cut me off. "And, you agreed to submit to me, so you can't argue."

          I sighed jokingly. Then I opened my door to my room. I've only taken cat naps in here at this point, but I do enjoy having the personal space. It's where I get to shower, get ready, and clear up my head. Also where I'm aloud to have lights on. Don't get me wrong, I respect that the others must live in darkness. As the nature of evil moves upon me, I'll learn to see in the dead of night too. For now, I can't see much in the darkness.

          Chris was already completely made him. His hair was done and makeup placed perfectly. Now that I have him in the light, I could see the beauty on his face. Fuck, he was so hot. How'd I get this lucky? He leaned himself against the wall and lowered his lead to avoid the light from hitting his eyes. I walked over to him and gently kissed his cheek.

          "You look really good tonight." I said. Absentmindedly, I played with his fingers as I talked to him. "But you don't have to stay in here if the light is hurting you."

          He brought his eyes up far enough to look at me. Chris very gently placed a kiss on my forehead. He ran his hand along my arm as he replied, "It's alright. I just want to be with you. The light doesn't hurt me that much."

          I frowned because I knew he was lying. Plus the "that much" comment meant it was definitely bothering him. I'm sorry, I'm still an angel. I can't help but worry about people. Especially someone I just chose to dedicate my entire life to.

          "Why'd you let your tolerance go back down? After I helped you get it up?" I asked.

          "It wasn't my choice. When I was being held captive by demons, they had us in cells that were pitch black. I've never bothered to work on it because I've never had a reason to." He set his hand along my jawline, "Until now, that is."

          A blush washed over my cheeks. I glanced down and played with the ends of my sweater. "If it gets too hard on you to be here, you can leave. I'm okay with that. It's not like I'll die if you decide to leave me alone for ten minutes."

          Chris shrugged, "You never know. A pterodactyl could swoop in through the window and bite your head off."

          I shook my head with a laugh, "Right, because Alaska has pterodactyls?"

          "They totally could. I mean, they say that humans have only explored something like ten percent of the oceans on this planet. We have no fucking idea what could be down there." He said, "There could be a lost city full of dinosaurs."

          He was rambling this as I went to sit down at the vanity dresser in the room. "You have a very active imagination." I muttered as I started to rummage through the drawers for product.

          "I live in the middle of nowhere with no cable or internet and I don't have a job. What else am I supposed to do all day?"

          "You could pick up a hobby." I suggested, "I noticed some of the others have. Ghost makes clothes, Ricky writes, Ryan-Ashley draws."

          "Yeah, Josh passes time by turning the animals we catch into pelts, rugs, or statues. Ryan, when he's not sick, does some wood working. The others do all of that though so they have shit they can sell in town. I don't have any artistic skills like that. I mean, could you imagine me knitting?"

          I choked on a laugh and immediately felt bad about it. He didn't seem too offended because it was actually kind of funny. The mental imagine of someone so fucking terrifying sitting in a rocking chair, knitting like an old lady. If he hasn't domesticated himself by now, I doubt he ever will.

          It makes me wonder if he ever did have a romance in life. He's lived so long, it's hard to believe he never had a spouse or kids. That's a conversation for a much different time though. I managed to live this long and never have children. It's very possible to do so. However, romance? I've had several. You can't live without love. Chris is too broken of a man to never have had his heart shattered. Like I said, this isn't an appropriate time to ask.

| | |

          Despite both of them feeling like shit and being in a lot of pain, Ryan and Vinny dragged themselves out of their rooms for dinner. They both looked like Hell. I can't imagine how they must feel. I've got a few ideas on how I can offer them help but I'll have to finally bother to make a trip to the Troll Market. Yeah, not something I'm looking forward to. At least if I'm turning to a crow, I won't be bothered as much. It's not that safe for light creatures to go there.

          The others all looked nice. It wasn't too dressed up, just enough to enjoy the dinner and make it special. We were the last to walk in though and the second we did, all the talking fell. Everyone just stared at us. I was a little lost for a second and glanced over at Chris. He set his hand on my lower back and guided me over towards my chain. He sat on one of the end chairs and I was beside him. There was still a lot of awkward staring and silence. I uncomfortably looked down at my lap.

          Around the corner, we could hear Ghost and Ricky happily joking around with each other. They loved each other so much.

          "Come on, Babe. Your hair looks perfect." Ricky spoke as he attempted to pull Ghost into the room.

          Ghost stopped at a mirror around the corner to adjust a few strands. "Now it's perfect." He stated, turning to walk into the room.

          "You're always perfect-..." Ricky's tone trailed over and his eyes instantly froze on Chris. They stared there as he sat down at the other end of the table.

           Ghost glanced at me. I could feel his stare burning into me and when I looked back, he guiltily diverted his eyes. He sat down quiet beside Ricky and folded his hands in his lap. Why the Hell were they all acting so fucking weird? Nothing much has changed except Chris and I committing, but they were pushing for that! It's not like they knew about it either- wait. Fuck.

           The purpose of vampires marking their significant others is so that other dark creatures know they're claimed. They all could smell his venom in my blood. They did know and this awkward silence was a result of that. That just goes to show how powerful it can be to dark creatures. Not to mention, more of the skin around my eye has started to turn black. It's starting to go down my jawline too. By tomorrow, I expect my feathers to start to darken. The process of becoming a crow is faster than one would think.

          Ricky cleared his throat, rasping, "Sorry we were running a little late."

          "I don't think you can run late to your own dinner." Balz joked.

          "You weren't late either." Chris muttered, "We were all just sitting down. Everything smells delicious, Ryan."

          "Thank youuu!" She sang, trying to break away from all the awkwardness. The dog on her lap yapped and she added, "Oh, of course. Toronto wanted you to know he helped too."

          "Where's Cas?" Balz asked.

          "Where else? Napping." She replied.

          This was honestly the first time I was becoming aware of the dogs. They're very sweet though. It makes me wonder if there's more pets around here I don't know about. It's a little weird, isn't it? That they go out and kill animals, but keep fluffy pets? At this point, I shouldn't be surprised. These are some weird as fuck creatures. I guess their oddities are what have kept them alive this long.

          Ricky picked up Ghost's hand, kissing across his fingers. He used his left, considering his right was covered in metal and probably not the most delicate to touch his beauty with. "My undead queen, you look so gorgeous tonight, as you always do. But, you've run out of fingers on this hand for me to put rings on."

          "Isn't it your five hundredth? Don't you have a fifth finger?" Vinny pondered. I couldn't tell if he was being a smartass or genuinely having a moment of stupidity. It could always be a little bit of both, I suppose.

          Ghost looked at him like he was an idiot. He held up his hands decorated in rings and counted across his fingers as he said, "Engagement ring, one hundred years, two hundred, three hundred, four hundred."

            "Ohhh, okay."

          "I'm only letting you get away with that because you've been down ill, but normally I'd slap you for that." He replied.

          I bit down on the inside of my mouth as to not laugh. Chris glanced over at me, holding back his amusement too. It's amazing how he can still manage to be the child of the group, even when his body must be screaming at him in pain. I could tell him and Ryan were both tired. They were pulling through for their friends though. This was an important night.

          "Anyways," Ricky continued as he delicately picked up his love's other hand, "It makes me the happiest creature alive to be able to continue to call you mine. I hope our love continues on until there comes a day you run out of room for rings entirely. You are all I ever need in life. Without you, I am nothing. Happy Anniversary, Gorgeous."

          He reached into his pocket to retrieve a small black box. Ricky kissed Ghost on his cheek, as to not ruin his makeup. As he did, he slipped the velvet box into his hand. Ghost anxiously opened it. He jumped at Ricky with a hug, fighting the tears. Those two really loved each other more than anything. I hope on day Chris and I grow to be like that. That's something I've always wanted is someone who is willing to die for me. To find love that strong is very rare.

          "It's beautiful, Ricky." Ghost sniffled, "I love you so much. Fuck, why did you have to make me cry?"

           Ricky flashed his smile while the others laughed. "I'm sorry. You know you're still beautiful even why you cry."

          He broke a laugh through his tears. That comment probably made it that much worse for him to stop crying. It was obvious Ricky would do literally anything for him. He lightly slipped the shinning ring onto Ghost's right ring finger. I could see it decently from here, considering the only person sitting between Ghost and I was Ryan. It looked like it cost a lot, I'll say that much. The center stone was massive and glowing with some kind of magic. It'd say fairy, most likely. The rest of the rings on his other hand were no different.

           Toronto barked again. It was so cute and everyone laughed. Ryan-Ashley leaned down, placing a kiss on his head. "He's trying to say he's hungry." She said.

          I heard some jingling coming around the corner. That was followed by a thud. It sounded like something running into the wall. Josh sighed and stood up. He muttered to himself, "Now Cas shows up, when it's time to eat."

          Chris leaned over to me and told me, "Their dogs are immortal too, but Casper is blind. He still doesn't know his way around the house that well so he runs into everything."

          "That explains the thud." I mumbled and we both snickered.

          Okay, it wasn't funny! But it kind of was. I'm sure it didn't feel too fun for Casper, but it sounded so comical when it happened. Josh brought him into the room and sat down with him on his lap. They were both such fluff balls. There was no prayer before eating. That kind of threw me off. I'm used to angels that say a ten minute long prayer before eating. Then again, Chris said they were LaFey Satanists.

          Considering I couldn't see shit, Chris put food on my plate for me. I softly smiled at him to thank him. The whole staring spell from earlier made me scared to bother to speak. I didn't want to make it awkward again.

          "You know, it's kind of nice to look over and that chair isn't empty." Ghost softly said.

          He was so sweet. His voice was delicate too, which made it even nicer. I know he was just trying to be nice after what happened before. Ghost has kind of been the one to take me under his wing too.

          "Yeah," Chris ran his hand along my arms, "It really is. It's nice to not have to sleep alone anymore either."

          "Oh, trust me, we know." Ryan muttered.

          I almost choked on the water I was drinking. Chris was more pissed about it, whereas I was embarrassed.

           "It's not our fault you're single." He grumbled.

          "Oh, yeah, how am I supposed to find a girlfriend out here?" He retorted.

           "There's always Vinny." Ghost said, earning glares from both parties. He smiled at Vinny, "Consider us even now."

          "You got even at my expense." Ryan responded.

           Chris sighed and rested his forehead against his hand. "Children." He muttered, "I live with children."

          "Well, you already parent us," Ricky said, "So, does that make Angelo our mother now?"

          It was his turn to choke on his food out of embarrassment. If looks could kill, Ricky would be dead where he sat. Chris was pissed at him for that, even more than the sex comment. He cleared his throat and straightened his back out.

          "This is obviously the elephant in the room, so I should address it sooner than later." He grabbed my hand, setting our intertwined fingers on the table. "When I met Angelo, I fell for him pretty fast. You guys know that because he's all I've talked about for the past ten years. So, yes, we are together and I did mark him."

          "We're just fucking with you, okay? I'm glad you've finally found someone you love as much as I love Ghost." Ricky replied.

          "We're all happy for you two." Ryan-Ashley added.

          It helped to get that out in the air. They obviously knew Chris and I would end up together. Letting him mark me though, I think that came as a shock. It was a little soon to do so but I know this is right. I just know it.