Aidan

James felt better first. It took more time for the shaking and the pain to stop for Aidan. But he got through it too. He had to, at least for James.

One day Aidan woke up, and there was something missing. He wondered at first what it was, and then he knew: the thirst was not as agonizing as before. He could breathe again.

It didn't completely disappear either. But James was confident. Aidan was going to be alright. He had to give this more time. So Aidan tried to believe it too. And he got better. It was undeniable. He got used to animal blood. And they could go out. They were careful. At first, they strolled in the middle of the night when the streets were mostly empty. But the point was that they were living again.

Aidan kept on feeling restless sometimes, though. There was a tension in him that seemed to always be sleeping under the surface. Aidan didn't want to scare James but he could see that the younger vampire noticed it too. He fought it, with everything he had.

James had his music to soothe him. He tried to comfort Aidan with it and to some extent it worked. Aidan loved to listen to him play and sing, to see him express all these shades of emotion. But it was not enough.

When they were at James', Aidan often put some ink on paper, not to write words but to scribble geometrical patterns, as if he could not stop his hand. And the abstract patterns soon became more elaborate.

James noticed his behaviour and one night he came back home with a box. Aidan was pacing the room, as he often did.

"I've got something you might be interested in," James said.

Aidan froze. "What is it?"

"See for yourself." James smiled.

Aidan looked startled. He observed the wooden box not daring to look inside. Then he reached for it slowly and opened it. Inside were pigments, brushes, and small canvases.

"They told me this is everything you need to paint," James said with a self-satisfied smile.

Aidan could not believe it. He looked at James, opened his mouth, and hesitated. "It's for me?"

"No, it's for our next-door neighbor," James rolled his eyes. "Yes, it's for you."

Aidan didn't even notice the sarcasm. His eyes came back to the box and locked on the blue pigment.

"I saw you scribbling. I thought you could like it," James tried.

"It's... incredible. I... I don't know what to say."

"There's nothing to say."

"Thank you. Nobody ever... Thank you so much."

Aidan finally extended his fingers to brush one of the canvases.

"Of course, I expect a portrait of myself, as soon as possible," James added with a smile.

Aidan laughed. James always made him laugh.

And after a minute, Aidan looked at James. He carefully came closer to him and hugged him. James hugged him back and Aidan surrendered to his embrace, putting his head on James' shoulder.

"Thank you for not giving up on me," Aidan whispered.

"Never."