Vaccinating so many kids would take much, much longer than one day or even two. We now had official sanction to carry on—Cheryl having decided that re-appropriating the chemicals my father had stolen from Sunshine Health didn't need to wait on a criminal investigation into a decades-old crime.

"You look knackered," Kyle said, breaking off from a conversation with some of his Argist Academy colleagues. He'd called them in to stand guard around the estate in case the smell of all that unvaccinated blood attracted any non-state licensed vampires. "Go back to Sharon's. I'll pick up Mirac tomorrow and we can talk about how childcare's gonna work from now on."

The sentence hung in the air for a few seconds. Did Kyle hope I might argue, What do you mean 'how it works from now on'? Shouldn't we get back together? For that matter, did I hope that deep down?

The feeling didn't last. When I said, yes of course, thank-you, he sighed. Relief, most of all. We could split, and we could do it amicably.

He patted my shoulder and turned away. Deeta was among the Argists there, and her eyes lit up when he spoke to her. She was much, much better suited to Kyle than me.

"Do you want me to give you a lift back to the Academy?" Gregor asked, jangling the stolen van keys.

I shook my head. "No, I must speak to Justin. Thank him for everything he did. If he hadn't persuaded Cordelia to give him that interview, the James Hamilton films wouldn't have had as much impact."

Gregor ruffled my hair—a very big brotherly gesture. "You stole stuff, got a scientist to work on a vaccine, ended up getting tortured, risked your life countless times and then came up with amazing ways to publicise what we knew. If Cheryl doesn't ring you tomorrow, begging for you to re-join her government, she's a mad woman."

I rolled my eyes, reluctant to accept the compliment when the whole time it had felt as if I was muddling through everything, getting the odd lucky break here and there. But I didn't want to return to the Assembly anytime soon. I wanted months and months off, time I spent with Mirac. Shayla and Safi too, seeing as I'd neglected my female friendships, and... and...

Guess what?

Justin and Lewis were bickering when I climbed into the tractor cab to join them. Nothing serious—a debate about a film where Justin swore the lead character said one thing before the crucial scene where the saved the world, and Lewis argued the opposite.

"Any chance of a lift to the Academy?" I asked, nervous all of a sudden.

"Sure," Justin said.

"I'll leave you to it," Lewis said, opening the door his side.

"But what—" I called after him, worried that the Garshake residents might round on him. He turned to wink at me, tipped his head upwards and flew metres above us, the movement so quick I doubt anyone but us saw it.

"Show-off," Justin said, turning the key in the engine. He drove slowly out in deference to the many people milling around, picking up speed as soon as we hit the motorway.

While I wanted to know how he'd managed to force Cordelia to agree to that interview—and why those green-tipped dreadlocks had vanished—something far more urgent needed clarification.

"Don't know if I'm that much of a catch," I said, making Justin side-eye me. "A single mum. Who needs to put her kid first, by the way. I'm jobless too. In the years ahead, I'll get fat, well, fatter, and wrinkled, and my hair will turn grey. You'll still be this gorgeous 21-year-old. The most beautiful man I ever laid eyes on walking around with an old woman who has to use your arm to prop her up."

"Mmm. Is this you trying to ask me out?"

Blast him. Hadn't I done this already, those numerous times over the last few days when we'd found ourselves in each other's heads?

Justin gave me that same cocky wink his twin had done earlier. We'd reached the Academy. He pulled up, the lorry blocking the entry.

He switched of the engine and twisted in his seat. We faced each other. His hands grasped mine, and my heart started that crazy pitter-pattering that reminded me of those ridiculous teenage crushes I used to get. Got the first time I ever kissed him in the kitchen of Vampire Towers all so long ago.

The short hair, the dirt-streaked face and clothing, the eyes that held mine.

"I'm fine with you ageing."

He leant forward. Our lips met—gentle at first, mouths re-establishing a movement of old, and that weird shock of aliveness I often felt when close to him. One of his hands reached up to cradle the back of my head pushing us that teeny bit closer. I nibbled his bottom lip, and his mouth opened, intensifying the kiss—that one I'd promised earlier. Kiss as if your life depends on it, the kind of kiss that you feel in your belly, the warmth spreading upwards. My nipples stiffened, and from the way Justin shifted in his seat, I guessed it was having the same effect on him too. The tractor cab's seats were big enough that they could double up as a makeshift bed, and if we kept the lights off no-one would see if we...

Justin pulled back from me. "No. The first time should be special, shouldn't it?"

He was right, though I tried to argue. It wouldn't be the first time anyway. We had loads of sex in the past.

He pushed back the hair that had fallen over my face. "Know why I'm fine with you ageing?"

"You've got a weird granny fixation and can't wait to shag one?"

That made him smile, but it died away. He bit his lip. "I'll be ageing alongside you."

"Well I know that. It's just that you won't look any—oh. Oh. Does that mean...?"

The heart pitter-pattering intensified, as the implications hit me.

"Yes. Miraculously with all the furore around the vaccination, no-one noticed the other scientist busy working on her cure for vampirism. Perfecting it. And I plan to go through with it, so when we sleep together again, it will be the first time as I'll be human."

A day of so many shocks and surprises, but this oh-so-personal one was right up there with the return of Mirac. I burst into tears once more.

AUTHOR'S NOTE - thanks for all your reads, votes and comments! Next update, Tuesday 21st September 2021. Have a nice weekend, everyone!