Predator | 30

It was quite a surprise that Eric didn't mention Nikolaj when they had arrived home. With the way he had acted when he found out that they had been intimate, she was sure as hell that he was going to bring that small incident up.

Nonetheless, Eric was his usual self. April figured that he just needed a few hours to cool off. She was glad that he didn't bring it up again. She just wasn't in the mood to explain herself. She didn't have to explain herself.

Eric was tired after the long day and decided to catch up on the much needed sleep and left early this night to his room. April, however, was far from being tired. She was wide awake as she sat alone in her room, seeking comfort in the silence.

Nikolaj didn't contact her the rest of the day. April was a bit hurt, but she thought that he maybe had important things to do. She had thought about calling him, but didn't want to come off as clingy. She knew that some men didn't appreciate it when a woman gets too clingy.

It was three days later when she heard from him again. The call took her by surprise. April didn't think he would contact her anytime soon. With each day that had passed, the hope to hear from him anytime soon, faded.

April and Nikolaj didn't talk much through the phone, but agreed to see each other. Since April still had the keys to Eric's car, she decided that she would drive to him, instead of him coming to her place.

April was grateful that Eric gave her his car, since hers had been demolished, but needed to remind herself to get her car fixed soon.

She knocked at his door, once she reached his place. Cold wind made her body shiver in response and she snuggled into her jacket. She was thankful that Nikolaj opened the door not seconds later.

Without uttering a word, Nikolaj stepped aside, allowing her to enter. April quickly hurried inside and welcomed the warmth. The fireplace was already lit and made the whole place pleasantly warm.

She shrugged her jacket off her shoulders. Nikolaj watched her with intense green eyes. April smiled weakly at him as she placed her jacket over a wooden chair.

"How have you been?" She asked when he didn't say anything. The mood was somehow awkward and she couldn't even explain why. It was awfully uncomfortable. April didn't like it. She had the strange feeling that something was wrong.

"Good," was his short answer.

April nodded, though aware that he wasn't even looking in her direction. Instead, his eyes were looking out of the window with little interest what he was actually seeing. He was just trying to avoid eye contact. April realized that there was indeed something wrong, when he wouldn't even dare to let his eyes stray from the stupid window to look at her.

"You've been avoiding me," she stated in a firm voice. She was thankful that her voice didn't tremble. "Why?"

Nikolaj finally drifted his eyes away from the window and settled them on her instead. His face was kept neutral, not revealing what he was thinking right now, which bothered her very much. He never showed what he was truly thinking or feeling.

He allowed a heavy sigh escaping his lips. He walked towards the fireplace and took a log of wood in his hand. April noticed that he was just stalling for time. "I've been thinking," he told her in a quiet tone. He threw the log into the fireplace.

"About what?" April asked confused, her forehead falling into a deep frown.

"Charles is right," he spoke in a soft murmur and drifted his eyes away from her, not being able to look at her any longer. "A relationship between a human and a Lycan is disgusting."

April's chest tightened. She was momentarily unable to speak, too stunned that he was agreeing with the stupid things Charles said back at Eric's place. She didn't even think he would bring that up again. She thought that was old news already.

She blinked and licked her lips nervously. "You can't be serious," she said. "Don't let other people seed wrong ideas into your head."

"What we did was a sin. To us, it is forbidden to be intimate with a human. It isn't right. It's wrong," Nikolaj explained calmly.

"But it's not what you think, right?" April asked. Even after long moments of silence Nikolaj didn't respond and which each second April's heart grew heavier. "Right?" She repeated, though in a much quieter voice this time.

April didn't like that he was still avoiding to look directly at her. She couldn't believe that he truly was affected by Charles words. Never would she have have thought that he would even care about someones opinion.

"It doesn't matter what I think," he answered after a while, his accent thick.

"It does to me," April answered without hesitation.

Worry clouded his eyes when he glanced at her. "People will look down on you if they find out. Relationships between two different races is frowned upon. It always was."

April licked her dry lips. All of a sudden her mouth went dry. Now it made sense why he was acting cold towards her at Viktor's mansion. Or why he was so hesitant to call her the past few days.

"Is this the reason why my brother went mad?"

Nikolaj nodded.

"That's ridiculous," April exclaimed. It truly sounded ridiculous to her. "He was also a human not too long ago. How can he possibly think something like that?"

"If your brother still were a human, he would still be against it. In the old days, long before we turned into nothing but folklore, humans kept themselves away from us. They did not want to be mixed up with us. They weren't only fearing us, they disgusted us," Nikolaj explained. April just listened to him and tried to clear her mind. "In some ways, we still are old-fashioned."

Silence passed over them. April silently walked to the couch and took a seat. Her legs were tired, she didn't even realize that she had been standing the whole time since she arrived at the cottage.

A heavy sigh fell from her lips. What Nikolaj told her wasn't worrying her too much. She was more worried about what Nikolaj was thinking. Or rather, what he was forcing himself to think. There is no way that he would share the same opinion as the others. He wouldn't have slept with her if he did.

"Is it because Viktor?" She then asked curiously. April titled her head to look at him properly. "Are you scared that he will find out and won't like it? Is this the reason why you've been avoiding me the past few days?"

April didn't need to hear his answer to know that she is right. But still, she wanted him to answer her and confirm her worries. She wanted him to voice his fears.

"Yes," he admitted without remorse. "We can never be something serious."

His words stung, but she kept her face blank. She didn't want Nikolaj to see how much his words actually affected her. It was stupid, really. She didn't even know what she was feeling for him, if she was feeling anything for him at all. There shouldn't be any reason to feel hurt, but that still didn't stop the slight ache in her chest.

"Why not?" She asked too quietly, her voice betraying her mood. "I don't care what they might think about me. Do you?"

"Yes," he answered, after struggling to speak. "I do care what they think about you."

"But you shouldn't," she retorted. "You shouldn't think about what other people might think. These are your decisions to make, but how can you decide for yourself when you let other people influence your opinion?" April got off the couch and walked straight towards him, until she was standing directly in front of him. Nikolaj watched down at her, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"I.. I don't think it is a good idea," Nikolaj spoke. His voice sounded strained and throaty.

April took his hand into hers and squeezed it reassuringly. "Stop worrying about what others might think. You can't let them influence your decisions."

Nikolaj squeezed her hand back and nodded. He didn't look too convinced, but at least he was in a somehow better mood now.

"Aren't you scared?" Nikolaj asked.

April thought about his question. She wasn't exactly scared, but she had her own worries and unlike Nikolaj, her worries didn't include what other people might think. She was worrying about entirely different things. But, she wasn't scared.

"No," she answered honestly. "I'm not scared."

His eyes softened and the straight line of his lips curved up into a smile small. "Okay," he whispered and slowly tugged her into his arms.

April welcomed the warmth of his body when she leaned into him. Her arms wrapped around him and April closed her eyes, enjoying the closeness.

Nikolaj's hand ran up and down her back in a soothing motion. A soft sigh fell from her lips. It's been a while since someone had their arms wrapped around her, comforting her. And only then she realized how much she had missed it, being comforted when having worries and doubts.

April managed to convince Nikolaj otherwise and it seemed that the worries in his eyes faded. Only, it was April now who was worrying, despite her pep-talk. She was trying to figure out what kind of feelings she has for Nikolaj and it was a harder than it sounds.

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Hope you liked this chapter! I'm trying my hardest to get the next chapter finished by wednesday. Thanks for reading.