Page 14 of Cassian

Huh. Blake had never thought of himself as a delicious hamburger. Although, Blake’s burger eating had never exactly been a sensual experience before, and Cass’s feeding from him had felt anything but platonic.

Blake took another bite, nodding a greeting to the couple taking a seat at the table next to him. They were braving the early spring chill as well, dressed in puffy jackets similar to his own. Cass hadn’t been dressed for the chill though. Fuck, Blake should have left him his jacket back at the hospital.

Did vampires feel cold? Was Cass even going to need Blake to look out for him anymore? According to Danny, Cass only had to feed once a week. It wasn’t like he was going to need Blake reminding him to eat breakfast every morning.

And why do you need to be needed by him?

Blake bit another hunk of his burger instead of answering his own question. He didn’t need a reason. He’d just felt…protective of Cass, ever since their first meeting.

Blake had stumbled into his new dorm room, carrying way too many bags at once, and Cass had already been there, perched on the side of his bed, his back ramrod straight with impeccable posture, typing away at his laptop. He’d gone full deer in headlights at Blake’s entrance, and then when Blake had smiled and introduced himself, a pink flush had stolen over his cheeks, highlighting his freckles.

Blake had immediately clocked the flush, and the number of rainbow pride stickers on the little cutie’s laptop, and had realized his new roommate might be very much into dudes. Cool enough, considering so was Blake’s little brother, Toby. Not that Blake could have really imagined Toby at a raging party school like theirs, but maybe this Cassian guy (as he’d been named on the school’s dorm assignment form) had some hidden depths.

When Cass hadn’t spoken right away, Blake had prompted, “Cassian, right? I’m Blake.”

“Oh, just Cass. I’m your new roommate.” Cass had shrugged apologetically. “Sorry.”

Blake had frowned at that, dropping his bags on the other bed. “Sorry?”

Cass’s flush had deepened. “Just—I’m not—I can be…” He had looked down at his laptop, seemingly unable to meet Blake’s eyes. “I’m kind of a nerd.”

It wasn’t like Blake hadn’t gotten that vibe already, even from the two seconds they’d interacted, but he’d reassured Cass anyway. “That’s cool, man. I need to get my own grades up.” At Cass’s suspicious look, Blake had only laughed. “I’m not going to be asking to copy your papers or anything. Just… Maybe you’ll be a good influence. Rub off on me or something.”

And then that blush hadreallydeepened, to an almost alarming degree. Blake had tried to ignore it, to keep the good vibes going. He hadn’t wanted to tease the guy. “Roomies need to have each other’s backs, right?”

And that had seemed to be the right thing to say, because Cass had finally smiled—really smiled—and…something…had swept over Blake in that instant. Some strange protectiveness, some new need to keep this assigned roommate safe and happy.

“Right,” Cass had chirped, beaming away, oblivious to the internal transformation taking place in Blake at that moment.

Blake had told himself at the time that it had been because Cass reminded him of Toby. But really, the two were nothing alike, besides an attraction to dudes. Toby was bigger even than Blake, and an absolute menace on the lacrosse field. He wasn’t small or bookish or shy or sweet. And Blake’s family may have been affectionate, but they didn’t sniff one another’s hair or watch movies cuddled up together in bed, did they?

Fuck, had Blake had a crush on Cass this whole fucking time?

He finished up his burger in two more bites, crumpling up the wrapper as he nodded goodbye to the couple. They looked cozy, huddled up together on the bench, sharing a bag of fries.

He could picture him and Cass like that, easy. But could Cass even eat human food? Blake should have stuck around to find out, to ask Danny more questions. He shouldn’t have run, shouldn’t have left Cass alone with such a heavy revelation on his shoulders.

He found himself walking back in the direction of the hospital, just five minutes away from where he’d been eating. But once he got there, he only lurked outside. Cass was probably back at the hotel by now. What was Blake even thinking, coming back?

He turned on his heel and walked back, ready to march the long blocks back to the hotel. He’d use the time it took to think of what to say. An apology, for sure. But what next? What did someone say to the dude fate had apparently picked as his forever mate without even asking for either of their say-so?

“Boo!”

Blake jumped at the sound before he could stop himself. He was already on edge, okay? It had been a stressful goddamn day.

But when he turned around to tell off whoever had decided it would be hilarious to stand on street corners and scare the pants off strangers, Danny was standing there, a grey-and-blue mutt-looking dog on a leash.

“Danny. Is Cass…?”

“Back at the hotel by now. He fled shortly after you did. Never fun to be on the other side of a straight-boy freak-out, I’ve found,” Danny said, his slight smile offsetting the harshness of his words.

“I’m not.” Blake bent down to pat the dog, who was sitting obediently at his owner’s side, looking up at Danny like he hung the moon.

“Not freaking out?” Danny asked, the skepticism in his voice clear enough.

“Not straight,” Blake clarified, willing himself not to flush as he did so. He was getting as bad as Cass with the blushing. “I mean… I liked hooking up with him, I’m not denying that. I’m probably bi, or pan, or however people describe it when they maybe like both or all of it or whatever.” He scratched a spot under the dog’s chin that got the little guy’s tail thumping. “I can label it later.”

Danny gave him a genuine smile then, looking almost proud. “Ah. My bad, then. You just had freak-out face when you left.”

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