Over the next few hours the house filled up. Most of the people from Arran's school were only there for the free alcohol and space to party and so people clumped together in their own friendship groups. This was fine. The atmosphere was relaxed, people were enjoying themselves and the few vampires that had turned up were on their best behaviour. In Arran's entire life the large house had never had so much energy in it.

He found himself sitting in a circle on the floor playing a drinking game with some people from his form. It was amazing how easy it was to have a good time when most of the conversation involved shouting at each other to drink. Naomi sat beside him and without him even noticing it happen they were leaning against each other. The warmth of her body up against his side pulled his attention throughout the game and he sound of her laughter was hard to get out of his head.

Naomi started to get up, saying that she was out of alcohol and so out of the game, causing general cries of slurred disappointment. Arran caught her hand and pulled her back down.

"No leaving until the game is over," he said, proffering the wine bottle that he was drinking from. "You can share mine."

She laughed and wrapped one hand around the bottle, overlapping her fingers with his and making his insides jump. There was no way that Arran could deceive himself into thinking that he didn't have feelings for Naomi at this point. He took any excuse he could to touch her and when he did his stomach felt tight and his head lighter. Something about her personality and how much he liked her as a friend meant something as innocuous as touching her fingers was exhilarating.

She was off limits. Too good a friend to lose and far too human to risk. Arran knew that he had to find a way to end his crush, but for now he allowed himself the excitement that it brought.

For the rest of the game they each kept a hand on the bottle which resulted in a lot of spills and even more laughter. The slight threat of his accidental party guests was almost completely out of his mind by the time the game ended and the group dispersed, leaving him alone with Naomi near the exposed kitchen bar. He had an urge to kiss her but even in high spirits and a little drunk he couldn't let himself follow the impulse. He floundered for something to distract himself with and found himself looking at a cotton bud taped to her inner elbow, half hidden beneath her sleeve.

"What's that, your idea of an accessory?"

"Ha," she laughed, humourlessly, "I had a blood test earlier, I have to keep these things on for ages because I bleed forever, no matter how small the puncture."

That was pretty high up on the list of things that shouldn't turn Arran on. So much for distracting himself from wanting to kiss her, now he couldn't stop thinking about her blood. He pushed himself up to sit on the counter, giving himself a little distance from Naomi and a better vantage point to find a new focus.

Standing in the entrance way, looking lost was an ideal distraction in the form of his half-sister, Lucella. Though she and Arran looked quite alike, she was in every way narrower with a slight frame and a long face. Arran called her name and waved her over.

"Naomi, this is Lucella she's one of my army of half-sisters. Lucella this is Naomi, a friend of mine from school."

"It's really lovely to meet you," Lucella smiled at Naomi. "I hate to be rude but can I steal him from you? I never get to see my brother."

"Um, sure."

Arran promised to catch up with her later and swung himself down from the bar.

"Does this need to be private?" He was both curious and a little worried.

"From certain people, at least."

That meant the humans then. They went upstairs, the first floor was empty but there was a risk of people coming up to use the upstairs bathroom so they ended up on the small landing in front of the door to Celyn's apartment. Arran sat but Lucella stood, looking down the stairs.

Arran liked Lucella, but she made him feel awkward. Even though he didn't get on with his oldest siblings, he found that when they were together he could relax in their company and this was missing with his only paternal sister. Arran wanted nothing to do with his father, he didn't even want to think about the man, but that was hard to do with Lucella right there.

"Gavrail Valentinov is coming," she said in Italian, just in case anyone was lurking.

"That's not too bad, I can probably keep it all under control." It would be annoying though; the party had been great fun without having to worry about that kind of thing. Lucella just shook her head and sat down.

"I'm seeing someone, this guy named Jacques, he lives in New Jersey not too far from Gavrail. According to Jacques things are pretty turbulent in the states right now, the American council are laxer than ever. Gavrail's loving it, he's got himself a little gang and they're killing people all over the place."

"He's not bringing them here?"

"No he wouldn't dare. Not with the threat of Celyn and the European council hanging around this place. Jacques thinks that he wants to recruit, even in America he still can't get permission to turn anyone so he needs new people to keep expanding. I know it's nothing to do with us but we can't let that happen."

Arran nodded in agreement. Once someone like Gavrail got any power things started to snowball and thinking through the list of vampires downstairs Arran wasn't sure who would be tempted by the idea of a less restricted life in New York.

"Any idea when he's getting here?"

"Quite late, maybe not for another hour."

"Ok, that's something. Pretty much everyone is getting a lift home so I don't expect there to be any humans left beyond one in the morning. Then I guess it's a case of keeping Gavrail away from any audience that he drums up. Can you help me start to wind things down?"

"Of course. Oh, before I forget," she pulled out two cards from her purse, "happy birthday."

"Thank you," he replied, instantly dropping the card from their father on the floor. He opened the one from Lucella. More money and an invitation to come stay at her new flat if he ever found himself back in Italy. At this point he was certain he could afford a decent second hand car.

---

The party wound down as most people were picked up by their parents and older siblings until almost everyone left in the house wasn't human. Arran did a sweep of the outside of the house to make sure there were no stragglers. With the immediate danger gone, he was almost free to start worrying about Gavrail's recruitment plan when a more imminent threat came to his attention.

Standing outside the door was Gavrail. He was talking to Naomi.

Arran jogged up to them and clasped Gavrail firmly on the shoulder.

"Gav, so amazing that you could make it all the way out here. Everyone's inside, why don't you go join the party?"

"Oh Redfern, I wouldn't have missed this for anything." Gavrail's strong Bulgarian brow was raised, it was almost impossible not to think that he was being genuine. He turned back to Naomi and winked, "it's been a pleasure."

"That was a little rude Arran, we were talking."

"How are you getting home?" He asked, too tense to joke about her teasing.

"I was just going to walk." She sounded a little hurt, he didn't want her to think he was getting rid of her but of all people he wanted Naomi away from Gavrail.

"Let me call you a taxi, it's late."

"I'm perfectly capable of walking. It's only going to take me half an hour, I don't want-"

"Look I know I'm being annoying and overbearing and protective to the point of sexism. I know you can get yourself home alright, it would just set my mind at ease. I'll pay, it can be your birthday present to me."

"I've already got you something, it's just not ready yet."

"Naomi, please." This wasn't the time for her to be stubborn.

"Ok fine."

He found the app for the local taxi service and booked one for as soon as possible. He was in luck, there was one less than ten minutes away.

"Why don't you want me near your old friends?" Her voice sounded like she was trying to hide being upset.

"Trust me, it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them." Arran's heart ached, he wanted her to know that he didn't really want her to leave. If he could make it so everyone inside left and he and Naomi could spend the evening alone, he would have done it in an instant.

"Sure, that's really convincing Arran."

In that moment his resolve gave way. He kissed her. He couldn't let her think that he didn't want her when in reality she was all that he wanted right now. His chest filled with elation but thoughts of warning raced through his head. This was such a bad idea, but it felt so good.

"What the fuck, Arran?" she asked, but she didn't pull back. Arran hadn't even realised that his hand was on her waist.

"I'm sorry." His voice came out in a whisper, he was totally breathless.

Her hands reached up to his face and he stood frozen. This time she kissed him, it was a long, light and gentle kiss that made his lips tingle and his head light.

"What the fuck, Naomi?" he teased when they broke apart, mirroring her words was the only response he could think of.

"Shut up," she laughed before her smile suddenly vanished. "Arran are you drunk?"

"What? No, I promise." She still looked concerned so he pulled her into a hug. Resting his head on top of hers he said, "that's not at all why I kissed you."

She relaxed into his arms and they stood like that for a while. The more time passed the less Arran enjoyed it and the more his head filled with all the horrible consequences of kissing her. Out in the row of trees beyond the house Arran thought he saw the shape of a large wolf.

Fucking fantastic, he thought bitterly. A visit from Cree was the absolute last thing that he needed right now.

Eventually, the taxi arrived and he pulled himself away from her, they didn't speak but he opened the door for her and squeezed her hand as she got in which she responded to with a smile.

Heading back inside, Arran found that he had no time to regret what had just happened. Gavrail appeared to be holding court with the remaining guests sitting on or near the large sofa. Standing with Debayan a little back from the rest of the crowd was Cree McKinney, beautiful even while she glared at Gavrail with a look of vengeance that only those with royal blood could master.

"The various councils think that because we are young we don't know how powerful we are," Gavrail was saying in his affected New York accent.

Some of his makeshift audience looked like they were enjoying what they heard. This couldn't go on. Arran needed to disperse the group and keep them distracted. He spotted a nearly full bottle of vodka on the counter and picked it up as he approached the living area.

"Hey, Gav, no offence but all the politics is bringing the mood down. It's my party," he put the bottle of vodka on the coffee table with a loud clang of glass on glass, "and I just want to get fucking wasted."

---

Uh oh. Getting every vampire you know drunk in your house so that you can stop a bullshit revolution while hating yourself for kissing your best friend. We've all been there, right? Thank you so much for reading the first 20,000 words of Redfern! Please let me know what you think so far.