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Dawson Patrick’s heart was still beating with Maren Yearly sinking her teeth into it. Maren had stuck up on him, wooing him with her dimples and sweet smiles. She had him wrapped around her finger. Maren had so much blood under her fingernails, her hunger was insatiable, dangerous.
Lee thought it was beautiful.
When they had met, she had been so timid. But as each day had gone by he was seen more and more of her true self. She was funny. She had a dark sense of humor that Lee wouldn’t think she’d have. She was calm and collected and knew how to escape tough situations.
She surprises him.
Tonight, she charmed the man with a simple smile. He was alone, passing through town, and wanted to unwind at a local club. He had had too many drinks and was almost thrown out once or twice. However, Maren caught his attention. He met a terrible fate with Maren. She had convinced him to meet her out back in a nearby cornfield.
“I’m not much of a hookup in how cars kinda girls.” She had said, trailing her fingers up his loose-fitted shirt. Dawson had followed her without hesitation.
Lee was waiting with a knife.
Dawson’s throat was slit instantly. His death was quick but not peaceful. He gurgled and moaned as he fell to his knees.
Maren and Lee didn’t hesitate to sink deep into their meal.
Once they were finished, they drove back in silence. Maren has the windows down and plays with the hairs on the back of Lee’s neck. Every once and a while he licks the blood off her wrist making her squeal.
They reach a motel, a few miles out of Louisiana. Maren uses the wet wipes stored in their truck to clean up as much as she can. Nevertheless, she felt sticky and desperately to shower. Because of how clean she looked she got them a room while Lee sat in the truck.
“You’ve gotten better," Lee says after she parked into the vacant motel lot.
She shrugs and smiles, “I had a great teacher.”
She hesitates before kissing his check,
“Be right back.”
Then she hops out of the truck and heads toward the motel front desk. About ten minutes later she returns with a key and they head inside their room. Before Maren can even shut the door Lee is on her. He immediately kisses up her neck and shoulder. As much as she wants to fall under his spell… Maren pulls back. He pouts and she ruffles his hair,
“Let’s shower first.”
They take off their clothes and head straight for the bathroom. Lee turns the nub for the shower.
“Nothing,” He says, making her huff. He runs some bath water. They step in, making the water turn red.
They talk quietly about their day, what they saw, and who they met, The conversation flows easily like they haven’t been trying to get blood off their skin for the last fifteen minutes. Maren watches as Lee washes behind his ears and his neck, seeing the redness fade and his freckles reappear. He chuckles as he catches her gaze,
“You're gonna watch me all night.”
Maren shrugs, “Yeah, you have a problem with that.”
He shakes his head, “No, not at all.”
She gently splashes him, “Good.”
They are silent for a few minutes.
“I want pizza,” Maren says gleefully.
“Seriously, you're still hungry”.
“Yes, I want pepperoni and mushrooms on top.”
Lee gags. Maren splashes him again, “You have to try it.”
“I'm good, baby.”
“But I have to deal with pepperoni and pineapple.”
“It’s a perfect combination of spicy and sweet.”
Maren rolls her eyes, “I don’t think we have enough money for two pizzas.”
“Lee begins to wash his arms and legs, “our lovely friend Dawson had fifty bucks in his pocket, so we’ll be just fine.”
The drainage sucks in this bathroom so the bath water is slowly flowing out.
“Really,” Maren says, her voice cheerful.
“Yup, we’ll have a party.”
Maren smiles again and Lee sees her dimples. She’s smiling so hard, the way she finds pleasure in the littlest things like pizza makes his heart beat fast. However, Maren quickly looks away from him trying to count the tiles on the bathroom floor.
“Hey, don’t be like that.” He says, trying to capture her attention again putting his hand on her knee. She sniffs and rubs her nose.
“I like your smile.” She looks at him, I wish I saw it more often.”
She nods and quietly says thank you. Life as an eater can be draining and lonely. The light that comes from the person you love makes it all worth it. Lee watches as Maren begins to ring out her hair, her curly locks, the way he sees her finally sees the sticky hue of blood fade away from her brown skin. He watches in awe.
“ I wanna marry you.” He says.
Maren’s fists slowly unclenched from her hair making them fall behind her shoulders. She doesn’t say anything at first. At first, Lee thinks she didn’t hear him. But then Maren just glares at him, her hands are now at her sides. He sees them dip into the water slowly scratching the bottom of the tub.
“That’s not funny Lee.”
“Does it look like I’m joking?”
He tries to make light of the subject but it falls flat.
“I hope you are.” Lee is confused. Maren’s eyes are dark, piercing.
But he stands his ground anyway.
“Would it be so bad if I wasn’t?”
Maren shakes her head, she mutters something he can’t hear.
She gets out of the tub and Lee grabs her arm to stop her but she pulls away from him. He watches her disappear into the bedroom. So he follows, grabbing a towel off the counter. She’s standing in the middle of the room, her arms crossed.
“Why would you say that?” Maren says.
“Because I meant it.”
“You can’t say things like that, not when we’ve only known each other for not even a year.”
“A year, Lee takes a step forward, “Feels like we’ve known each other for a lifetime.
“For now.” She whispers. He takes a step forward, “What do you mean.?”
“It takes one misunderstanding, one little thing could tear us apart.
He knows what this is. He’s seen it in himself. This fear.
Lee says, “You’re scared.”
Maren gulps and wipes her eyes. “Do you blame me?” Lee grabs her hand,
“No.” He pulls her closer. But she pulls back and grabs her clothes. She carefully puts on a T-shirt and Lee’s shorts.
He grabs one of his loosely fitted sweaters and baggy sweats from his meal a few months back and throws it over his head.
“We could lose everything, Lee, Everything.”
Maren begins to pace around,
We can’t be reckless.”
“Maren, that’s just the way I am.” He grabs her arm again, his hand resting on her elbow. He turns her to face him but silently presses his head against her stomach.
“You know me.” He whispers, gently reaching to rub her back.
He pulls back, resting his head on her stomach. Maren sighs, “What.”
“You’re so beautiful.”
Maren scoffs, “Lee..”
“It’s true.” Maren plops herself in his lap and lazily wraps her arms around his neck.
She presses her forehead against his, feeling his breathing on her face. The way they live, the way their lives feel like a ticking time bomb makes her anxious. There’s something about Lee, ever since they met she felt like she could breathe again, feel complete again. Like a person again.
“I’m not saying no, just not now,” Maren says after a while, her hands brushing through his reddish-brown locks. Lee moves his head so it can rest on her shoulder. His hand reaches underneath her shirt, rubbing circles into her skin. She sighs leaning into his hand.
“I don’t want to fuck everything up,” Maren whispers into his hair.
“You’re not going to.” Lee replies, “That’s my job.”
“Don’t say that.” She pulls his head from her neck, “You’re not a fuckup.”
“You just care a lot.” He abruptly cups her face in his hands. His eyes search her face, and memorizing, and internalizing her words make her melt.
Grativating to his warmth tightens her grip around his waist. Meanwhile, his words are caught in his throat, his heart is pounding as the woman he loves looks at him with admiration. He wants to drown in those brown eyes of hers.
But he settles on making their noses brush until she laughs. They brush noses, their lips are inches apart, and he pulls back. Maren keeps him steady. Her lips are on his, delicate and shy before she deepens the kiss. He moans in her mouth, melting in her arms. She cups his face, her fingers tangled in his hair. Desperate for air they pull back, Maren bumps her forehead against his,
“Ask me again in a year, she says, breathing labored, heart full. Lee chuckles, “Seriously.”
“Yes, she kisses his forehead, “dead serious.”
She giggles as he grabs her and lays her on the bed. He hovers over her, watching as her brown curls begin to wrap around his fingers,
“Where do you think we’ll be in a year,” Lee asks,
Maren shrugs, “maybe a cottage somewhere”
“In the middle of nowhere, where we don’t have to worry about our hunger, we can make our food. Make our own rules.”
“I like that.” Lee answers, he lays down beside her, Maren’s eyes widening, “Really”.
Lee nods, “Yeah.”
It never ceases to take his breath away when she smiles at him like this. They are silent for a while, thoughts of what could be filling up in their heads. It’s exciting and terrifying but it’s possible. Anything is possible when they are together.
Their thoughts in their minds vanished as both of their stomachs growled.
They laugh before Lee gets up to call the front desk.
Not even a year later, Lee’s heart is pouring out onto the wooden floor of their college town home.
Maren’s hands are gripping his bloody shirt trying to hold her lover together. But he’s slipping through her fingers. The ambulance is too slow, she fears they won’t arrive in time. She then buried her face in his chest. A horrid sob leaves her throat, makes her whole body ache. It feels like a piece of her is dying.
Then she feels a hand in her hair, gently combing her curls,
“Hey, hey, she heard Lee say in a whisper.
She shakes her head, frantically, she can’t say goodbye not yet. It’s like Lee knows what she’s thinking because he smiles and says,
“Can you do me a favor?”
“Yes.”
“I wanna give you something, " he weakly points to the closet in the corner, there’s a little blue box on the floor.”
She squeezes his hand before heading towards the closet. She nearly pulls everything out before finally finding the blue box. She returns to Lee’s side,
He gives her a little smile, “open it.”
She does and can’t hold back the tears that are starting to flow. Inside there’s a small ring, it’s not flashy or elegant, just a simple gold ring.
Now she knows why he’s been working many hours at the grocery store.
She looks at Lee who barely has his eyes open now. After sliding the ring on she climbs on top of him. Leaning down they share a small kiss. She feels his lips curl into a smile,
“Yes.” She murmurs against his lips, Lee uses all his energy to cup her face. The stickiness of his blood, the sweetness of the kiss make the dread in her stomach disappear.
In the background, she can hear sirens, and tires screeching down the street.
She kisses Lee’s face, “Please hold on.” Maren wraps her arms around him.
After a beat, she feels Lee resting his hands on her back.
“Not going anywhere.” His voice is small but alive.
She lets out a shaky laugh,
“Promise?”
“Promise.”