1. Chapter 1 (1/1)

short, 3 chapter fic. hope you enjoy it, i wrote it a few weeks back but only just got round to posting. reviews would be nice but no pressure!disclaimer: as usual, i own absolutely nothing but the plot, such as it is.

bertrand's throat was dry as he stepped into the room where vlad sat, reading a comic. the boy didn't seem to have noticed him, but rather than scold him for his lack of awareness, he stood in the open doorway for a moment, just watching. he tried to memorise each of the chosen one's features, his serene expression, the slight frown as he turned a page and the tiny smile as the story continued. then, reluctantly, he knocked on the doorframe.

vlad looked round and his smile widened as he stood."oh, hey." bertrand took a step towards him, then turned to close the door. there didn't need to be any witnesses to this. when he turned back, vlad was closer than he'd expected and he stumbled backwards. the younger vampire's smile disappeared, to be replaced with confusion. "bertrand?""we need to

eak up."

"what?" there had been no signs that this was coming, bertrand knew; he could hardly believe they were having this conversation himself. he'd spent so long thinking about how hard it would be for him and vlad to get together that he'd never even considered the possibility that they might eventually

eak up. as it turned out, that was even harder."i'm sorry, vlad. i just... can't do this.""i thought – you said – don't you want me anymore?" the youngest dracula was doing his best to hold it together, but bertrand could hear a distinctly vulnerable note in his voice."it just isn't working. better to cut our losses now, and we can both just move on." vlad's mask slipped back into place. in other circumstances, the older vampire would have been proud."fine. please leave." he turned away from his tutor, picking up his comic from where it lay discarded on the floor.

bertrand paused at the door after he'd closed it behind him, trying to reinforce his own mask of indifference so that the rest of the household wouldn't pick up on what had just happened. from inside the room, he distinctly heard a sob. after a moment's internal battle, he hurried away.