Love Bite | Yandere!Vampires x F!Reader

19: Crossing Paths

You wish you could say that you stopped crying by the time you made it to Caleb's apartment, but when he opens the door with a concerned expression, the tears are still pouring down your cheeks at full force.

"Shit," he mumbles, gesturing for you to step inside. "What's wrong? Come in. I'll get you something warm to drink."

You nod weakly. It's humiliating to constantly be so helpless, but you're past the point of caring right now. After the night you had, you need someone to be by your side. Someone you can trust. Someone who won't fuck you over like everyone else does.

Caleb turns the kettle on, then leads you towards the couch and wraps a blanket around your cold, shivering body. Your vision somehow seems to be getting blurrier by the second, which is strange, all things considered. You weren't crying like this when you were trapped with two vampire gangsters. Perhaps that's because you were too afraid to. Now that the adrenaline has worn off, it's as if all your emotions have come flooding out.

"Are you okay?" Caleb asks breathlessly. After a few moments, he stops and shakes his head. "No... sorry. That was a stupid question. What I meant was, do you want to tell me what happened? Or is it something you'd rather not talk about?"

You want to tell him what happened, but you can't. You'll be killed if you say too much. Even worse, you might end up putting Caleb in danger. There aren't very many good people in your life, but the last thing you want is to ruin the lives of those you care about.

"I'm just... tired," you settle on, smothering yourself with the blanket. "Everything is exhausting. I don't know what to do anymore. I'm so, so tired."

Caleb frowns. "Is it because of money? Has the situation gotten worse? I know you've been struggling with it for a while, but like I said, I can always help pitch in as a last resort. We can figure something out together. I promise."

He gently squeezes your hand and offers you a reassuring smile. You wish you had the strength to smile back, but you're barely conscious after the evening's harrowing events. It's a miracle you're even still alive right now.

Then again, death would probably have been a more merciful fate.

"It's not just money. There's other stuff going on too," you say, intentionally keeping things vague.

The irony is that you're not even lying. It's not just about money anymore. Money is the whole reason you got yourself into this mess and got involved with Felix in the first place, but it has spiraled out of control, beyond what you thought was even possible.

In an attempt to pay Johnny off and reclaim ownership of your life, you got involved with yet another group of criminals.

Wherever your shitty parents are right now, they're surely laughing at your misery.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Caleb lowers his gaze to the ground and sighs. "I get that you might not feel comfortable confiding in me. I don't intend to try and pressure the answers out of you. I just want to make sure you're safe."

"I'm alright," you lie. "I just... really don't feel well, and I didn't know who else to call. Sorry for bothering you this time of night."

"There's no way it's a bother," Caleb says, shaking his head profusely. "From now on, whenever you need anything, I promise to be there for you. I know I haven't been the most reliable person lately, but I'm going to do better. I want to know you can count on me."

You strain a smile, but it feels foreign upon your cold lips.

"Okay. Thanks, Caleb. I really appreciate it."