Chapter 100) The Long Goodbye

“There is no remedy for love but to love more.”

Henry David Thoreau

Del Sol Valley Hills
Camore Residence
Home to Finn, Jana and Kai

Chiming in with the laughter of his friends, 16-year-old Blaine’s green eyes caught two almost turquoise ones, glistening with joy, now affixed on him. They belonged to Bristol, Blaine’s also 16-year-old girlfriend, who blew him a kiss, he smiled and winked back at her, as he stepped over to her now, they kissed, generating playful jeers of the other two teens present.

The one now teasingly suggesting to them to just get a room already was Kai, Blaine’s best friend and neighbor since toddler days, who was holding his own girlfriend Cheyenne, a pretty girl with a good sense of humor and a fiery temper, balancing out Kai’s sometimes stoic calm.

She was the daughter of a famous football quarterback from the pro-leagues and a management level agent with the FBI. There had been more friends originally at the party, a good dozen total, maybe a few more, all of which the children of high profile parents, celebrities in their own right and all of them equally as wealthy as Kai and Blaine, they had met up for a small Friday night get-together at Kai’s home, but the rest of them had already left by now, only Blaine, Bristol, Cheyenne and Kai had remained, still sharing too much laughter to want to split just yet.

That changed quickly though once Bristol whispered something, most likely a raunchy offer, into Blaine’s ear, they said their goodbyes in a hurry, walking the short distance up to Blaine’s home, holding hands, trading occasional kisses.

Del Sol Valley Hills
Cameron Mansion
Home to Everett, Maeve and Blaine II

Once they reached Blaine’s home, they quietly entered, finding only the hallway lights on, a sign that his parents had already turned in for the night.
They ran up the stairs stifling giggles, both of them trying their best to be quiet as they passed his parents’ bedroom door, before entering his room, locking the door behind them, then engaged in a deep kiss, which quickly turned into them undressing each other, ending on Blaine’s bed, but definitely not with sleep.

This wasn’t their first time of her sneaking in to spend the night, far from it, nor did they ever really hide the fact much, it was more out of respect that they didn’t flaunt their liberties too openly, and his parents usually turned a blind eye to it, as did Bristol’s. Everett and Maeve were thrilled to see their son had finally remembered how to be young again after some rough spots a few years back. They liked Bristol, she and Blaine had been a couple for several months now, she was the daughter of a very well known celebrity plastic surgeon and a wealthy upscale retail store chain heiress, taking the worry about her dating Blaine for ulterior motives out of the equation. She needed no boy for fortune and fame, had plenty of that herself already.

Once the physical part of their night ended with her snuggled into Blaine’s arms on his bed, a comfortable sigh indicating she wasn’t in a hurry to leave, his eyes caught the stars illuminating the dark velvety blue night outside his window and he was transported back in time, to the moment of his very first experience with bodily love and affection …

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FLASHBACK: 
Everett Heights Park in Windenburg
About 10 months ago

In his mind it was Autumn of last year again, and he was back at Everett Heights in sleepy Windenburg, at the tail end of yet another party, only two couples left of a large group of teens, both couples cozied up around a bonfire, kissing, laughing, being young. He remembered feeling like the proverbial – and literal – fifth wheel, fighting mild jealousy rearing its ugly head as he watched both his cousins, twins Jamie and Jordan, make out with their girlfriends, while he was single.

He and his parents had come back to celebrate Thanksgiving with the family here, as they had every year ever since they left for Del Sol Valley in their twenties, long before Blaine was even born, but for him this marked his first time back since being dragged off so rudely at the end of summer that year without being able to say goodbye to Scarlett. Oh, Scarlett, ever-present in his mind since the very first time they met at Riordan’s.

Eventually Blaine wandered off to be by himself for a bit, alone with his thoughts, when after a few steps, he noticed movement, felt a presence, as he turned his head he saw her.

“Scarlett!” he exclaimed, surprised, staring wide-eyed at her, as if thinking about her again just now had somehow brought her into existence right before him.

“Hello stranger …” she smiled.

“Scarlett, thank god! I have been dying to talk to you but don’t have any way to contact you, I asked someone to drive me over to Forgotten Hollow but my parents just won’t hear of it! I am so, so, SO very sorry about not telling you I was leaving last time, but they … hmph.”

Into the midst of his verbiage she had just kissed him, passionately, demanding. Stifled by surprise at first he just let it happen, then life returned into him, he wrapped his arms around her like a drowning man would embrace a lifesaver, returning her affection with equal passion.

The kiss seemed endless, but eventually they separated.

“So … is it safe to assume that this greeting means you are not mad at me then? Cos I was afraid you were so pissed at me that you would never want to see me again.” Blaine said carefully, she shook her head.

“I am not mad. Ri told me what happened, you know he’s friends with your grandparents. I wasn’t happy when I first realized you were gone, but understood after he told me why and how. So, how have you been? How is life in fancy Del Sol Valley? How about girls? Met anyone special yet?” she changed her somber tone to a forced upbeat one for the last three questions.

“I have only been back home for three months or so, still trying to make heads and tails of everything. So no, no girlfriend. What about you, princess? Any princes lining up for you yet?” he replied.
Back then it was the truth, he was single, very much on purpose, hung up on Scarlett and hence not even looking, still hoping to somehow get his chance to be with her.

“Nope, nobody on my horizon.” was her brief reply.

“Good! I mean … not good. Well, no. I actually DO mean good. I missed you Scarlett, more than I can say. I wish I had a way to get in touch with you, but I don’t even have your phone number.” Blaine told her.

She smiled at him, lighting up her silvery eyes, telling him his honesty may have been a bit embarrassing, but was the right way to go, appreciated by her.

“I missed you too, Blaine. Very, very much. Every day, every night. You don’t have my phone number, because I don’t have a phone, at least not right now. I am still working on daddy to finally allow it. If and when that ever happens, you will be the first to know about it, promise. Hey, did you know there are empty tents over there that do not seem to belong to anybody? Odd, huh?”

“I did know that, my grandparents are the ones putting them up, a sorta open secret in this neck o’the woods, because it was an abandoned tent they hi-jacked in the heat of passion once a long time ago, where then my father was magically conceived, after years of unsuccessfully trying to have another child. Ever since they found out they were pregnant they’ve started that tradition, to canonize that love conquers all or some sappy shit like that. Now mostly horny teens and homeless people enjoy them.”

“Figures, your family would be behind that. Only a Cameron could come up with something like that. Come.” she demanded with a smile.

“To where?”

“One of the tents. Your choice which. Any personal favorites?”

“Whatever for?”

“What do you think, Blaine?! I have had lots of time to think, about us, and lots of time for regrets. Came to the conclusion that giving up your virginity is equally big for a vampire as it is for a mortal. I want my first time to be special, with someone very special to me, and something I can always look back on with joy, something worth treasuring. I want you to be my first, and I hoped I could be yours. Tonight. Here.”

“Holy shit, girl! Blunt much?” Blaine’s eyeballs nearly came out of the sockets. He wasn’t a stranger to girls being loose around him, but not a girl like Scarlett and definitely not like THAT. Whoa!

“Blunt? Hardly. Practical, maybe. We don’t have the time to lead up to this for weeks. So if not straight up, how else do you want it? Interpretive dance? Me on my knees handing you roses? And if you don’t want to, that’s fine too. I am not trying to rape you or something, so chill.”

“No, that’s not it, and of course I want to, you know I do. It’s just the framework is so .. off. Maybe I thought that if this would ever happen between us, we would lead up to it a bit more …. I don’t know …. romantically. Much more context to it, a date, roses and chocolates, romantic dancing, candles and kissing …. and eventually … go there.”

“I don’t do chocolate, you know I can’t eat, as for the rest, I would love nothing more than a bunch of romantic dates with you to work towards the crescendo, but the ugly truth is that we have no time for that, let alone the means. You still don’t drive, I still cannot teleport, so how, I ask you?! And when, if not now? Who knows what tomorrow brings? I am even only in Windenburg right now, because Ri is over at your grandparents home visiting and I pestered him enough to take me along, he really wasn’t too thrilled about that to begin with, then I snuck out after someone mentioned you’d be here with your cousins, only a matter of time they realize I am missing and it won’t take them long to put two and two together. You know we can’t just wait and do this whenever. This may well be our only chance, Blaine. Take it or leave it. But you have to decide quick. Those tents and now – or bust.”

“Fuck it, I’ll take it then! Come on.” Blaine decided for the offer he simply couldn’t refuse, grabbed her hand and giggling they ran towards one of the tents, disappearing within, and soon after they entered, it happened, they wasted no time to find a new kind of love, uncharted territory – together. It was special, different than anything either ever imagined, even almost magical to them in a way. They had just concluded their new experience, Scarlett with her head on Blaine’s chest, listening to his heartbeat calming down, drawing patterns on his bare chest with her fingers, while he played with her long, dark hair, when suddenly she perked up.

“You hear that?!” Scarlett tensed suddenly.

“Hear what?” Blaine asked drowsily, still drunk from the new experience flung upon him so unexpectedly.

“Someone’s calling my name. That’s Ri’s voice! Shit! They figured it out!” Scarlett jumped up and was dressed within seconds, one more intense kiss for Blaine and she was gone, vampire speed, just the dangling of the zipper pull of the now open tent remained in her wake, the cold Autumn night’s air creeping in, only her signature floral scent remained. Still wearing a baffled smile, Blaine quickly got dressed too, by the time he arrived near the bonfire, Riordan and Everett were talking to Jamie and Jordan.

“There he is!” Jordan pointed at Blaine.

“Here I am. What’s up? What are you doing here dad … and uncle Ri? Did you two have a craving for burned hot dogs and marshmallows complete with some moss, bark and dirt for the extra-outdoorsy small town taste?” Blaine played his part of the innocent bystander, but couldn’t help the slight snarkiness.

“Hey son, we’re looking for Scarlett …” Everett started, but Riordan took the lead.

“Have you seen her, Blaine? Is she with you? You won’t get in trouble, we just need to make sure she’s okay.” Riordan turned towards him.

For a brief moment Blaine considered hitting them all with the truth, if only to watch them squirm and cringe, but realized the odds of that working in his and Scarlett’s favor were zero to none, plus he didn’t want to risk getting her in trouble with the weird, dusty vampire rules, so instead he reiterated his lie.

“No, sorry, I was taking a leak and have been doing that successfully by myself since I was about 4 or 5, guys. No Scarlett here to hold it for me, as a matter of fact, I have not seen her since you dragged me away so suddenly at the end of summer, dad, without even being allowed to say goodbye, remember?” Blaine couldn’t help launch that verbal punch on his father, wrapped in what he considered a little white lie.

“Jab well received, kid. Wonder how many years that will take me to live down. You are worse than your mother about letting shit go!” Everett grumbled, rolling his eyes at his son, while Riordan just shook his head, both adult men’s eyes on Blaine standing there shrugging, like the epitome of innocence, the only thing missing was a halo.

“So if not here and with him, where is that girl!? I swear, if that were possible, my wonderful cousin would be the death of me! I do not know why I always bother with her! If uncle realizes I lost her, he’ll give me a piece of his mind that will have my ears ringing for days! I told her to stay with me, I turn my head for ONE moment and she is gone. Herding two dozen cats is like a vacation from her. I do not know how Caleb and Breana put up with her all the time without losing their minds!” Ri grumbled, interrupted by his phone ringing.

After a brief conversation, Ri looked up at Everett, then gave Blaine an odd glance, before he said

“Well, that was Brendan. Evidently Scarlett just wandered back through the patio door at their home, said she was just out for a walk and lost track of time. Typical! Sorry to have bothered you, kids. Come on Everett. Let’s go back home and leave the young ones to enjoy their evening without feeling like we’re trying to crash their little hormone fest here.” Riordan suggested.

While as a vampire he looked not much older than the teens present, it was misleading, he was almost 80 years old by mortal count.

“Blaine, you want to come with? You could say hi to Scarlett, if you wanted to. Hang with her a little …” Blaine’s father Everett suggested, a sort of peace offering from his side.

“Sure, if Jamie and Jordan don’t mind.” Blaine looked at his cousins, who were both far from wanting to go back home yet, way too involved with nibbling on their respective girlfriends. He needed to see no more of that, and he very much wanted to accept his dad’s offer without appearing too eager.

Windenburg Isle
Cameron Estate
Home to Brendan, Natalie, Declan, Rory and twin teens Jordan and Jamie

Once they arrived at the Cameron Estate, Blaine got some time alone with Scarlett, after pretending to not having seen her for months. They were allowed to go out on the patio to talk among them, without any chaperones.

“Scarlett, that was … what we just did was, … back at Everett Heights … it was … INCREDIBLE! We have to come clean with them, my family, and yours, tell them that this is something real. I’ll talk to my parents later, I am sure they will understand now, then tomorrow I’ll have them take me to talk to your parents and I am sure we can figure something out. There must be a way for us to be together. Maybe our parents can help us. They are complicated, all of them, but not heartless.”

“Talk to them to say what exactly, Blaine?” Scarlett seemed less than enthused, more deeply saddened, her eyes glistened with tears just waiting to be allowed to fall, matched by the tone of her voice, overall, barely keeping it together.

“That we belong together, duh! Obviously.” Blaine’s enthusiasm was still strong. He saw a problem that needed to be fixed. Now!

“Do we, though? Look Blaine, I hate this as much as you do, it was the most beautiful, special moment of my entire life and will probably always be, the one I will cherish and remember forever, which in my case means a long time, as you know. I want this, you, us, now more than ever, but in the months of missing you, I also realized that we could never make it. We are worlds apart, literally and culturally, and I am not even talking about the physical distance.” she told him, her tone sad and sober.

“Are you like … breaking up with me after what we just did?! Are we even a couple now? I don’t know how to tell. But you cannot be serious. We literally just experienced a giant milestone together. That means something. I can’t just let you throw that away. No, Scarlett, not like this. Not happening. And if I have to tell my parents we just had sex, making them think you could be knocked up, they don’t need to know we used protection, I don’t even care, but not like this.”

“Like what then, Blaine? Think! Tell me, how? We’re still not even 16, we don’t get to decide anything beyond what we already decided. And even if we were already 18, do you really see yourself moving to Forgotten Hollow, in with me, my parents and my little brother to live among my kind? Leave your parents, as close as you guys are? And what about school? Puh-lease! Cause I sure as heck cannot live in Del Sol Valley. I am many, MANY years away from being able to withstand any direct sunlight for longer than a few minutes. Am I supposed to live in your basement as your dirty little secret all that time? And who’s gonna train me? You don’t just wake up one day with all your vampire powers. That takes hard, long, repetitive training to be any good at any of it. I cannot be THIS, without even knowing how to be this properly, without knowing how to use my full potential. That’s insane!”

“I ….. I don’t know, Scarlett, I DON’T know. But I didn’t expect to have to be the only one to brainstorm on this, and I sure as fuck didn’t think you’d be the type to just throw in the towel like this. Not you! And not me either! I haven’t exactly had loads of time to come up with a solution since we literally just … did something I REALLY didn’t expect to be doing anytime soon. But we did, it was amazing, and it means something.” Blaine’s passion was still going strong.

“But I had time. Ever since I kissed you at my doorstep last summer my entire world has revolved around trying to figure out how to make this work. Answer is: we can’t. But at least we had our moment, our one special, shining moment in time, something to treasure forever. And I will. But this …we … it’s only a dream, has no real future. Us wanting this, even trying as hard as we might, it’s nothing but pointless, in a way a waste of time, just would extend the inevitable heartbreak, we’d just risk eventually hating each other for it. It would be a long goodbye.”

“A goodbye?! Holy shit, you really already have given up on us, haven’t you? Well, I can’t. I won’t. Not without even trying. Riordan and Anastasia made it work …”

“Blaine! We are not them. And they didn’t just make it work. Don’t you remember all they both sacrificed, all the hardships and heartbreak? How long it took them to be able to be together at all?! Now Riordan is fighting to stay positive, knowing he’s gonna lose her soon to mortality. That is worse than cruel and I do not want to have to go through that one day. Which is why I told you that I do not date mortals. Unfortunately for me, my brain and my heart do not seem to sync up here.” Scarlett got passionate for a moment, but seemed deflated again at the end of her retort.

“So, turn me then. Problem solved! You said yourself I already look like one of your kind. Might as well make it official and I really don’t care anymore.”

“You’re an idiot! First of all, only vamps above a certain rank even can turn anyone, secondly it is forbidden, unless specifically authorized, which we both know would have to be done by my dad, and he would NEVER. Punishment is severe and not up for discussion, even my dad couldn’t save me then. What good would you being turned do us if I had to be exiled and we’d still be separated? And no offense, but you are not vampire material. Way too impulsive. And being this in a mortal world is complicated, to say the least. Not to mention what this would cause between our families. I can’t and won’t. Never!”

“So you just wanna walk away from it all without even trying ANYTHING? Wham, bam, thank you man, DONE?!” Blaine was visible angry, feeling cornered again.

“No, I don’t WANT to but in a way, we both have to, yes. We both have no other choice, Blaine. NO choice. Just be happy for what we did have. What we took. A prom, kisses, being each other’s first … nobody can take that from us.”

“No, we need to think about this rationally, I am sure there is ….”

“Blaine stop! Quit being such a dumbass about this! There is nothing we can do! Just get that into your thick skull already! You know I am right! Be grateful and accept the truth.” Scarlett tried.

“Grateful?! For what exactly? For you using me? So you can tell all your fanged friends you fucked the kid of ‘Rett & Reed’?! Is that what this was?! You didn’t want me for me, you just wanted someone famous to pop your cherry, so it would guaranteed be memorable?! All you have to do is open a magazine or turn on the TV and point at me and say ‘that was him and I was his first’?! Ha, I really thought you were special, but you are just like all the other girls, no, NO, I stand corrected, you are worse than them, even worse than Karlie ever was!” he nearly spat the last words at her.

Scarlett slapped Blaine hard, leaving a very noticeable red mark the shape of her palm on his cheek, then ran off.

Paralyzed by all that had happened and deeply hurt, he let her go, didn’t follow, but ended up taking out his frustrations by punching a wall till his knuckles bled. He later told his parents he tripped and scraped them trying to catch himself.

Over the course of the following days his anger had dissipated, given way to regrets, deep, burning regrets about how it had ended between him and Scarlett, as he came to the painful realization that she had been right, about them, about everything. There was no way they could pull this off. All Blaine wished now was that he could have changed the way they parted ways, at the very least apologize to her. Sadly, he didn’t get the chance before he had to fly back home …

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Del Sol Valley
Cameron Mansion
Present Day

“What are you thinking?” a drowsy, soft voice near his ear pulled him back into the current moment, he flipped over on his side to face the beauty next to him, smiling contently. Bristol was a good person, sweet, and deserved no less than all of him. Or at least as much as he could give.

“That I am a lucky guy.” he responded, a little white lie, justified, as he could hardly tell her what he had really been thinking about. He leaned forward and kissed Bristol.

The part about him being lucky wasn’t a lie. He truly had lucked out meeting her, she was a one in a million, incredibly hard to find in a city like this, genuine, a sweet girl, her feelings for him were honest and Blaine deeply cared about her, possibly even loved her, even though deep inside he was still too heartbroken to allow himself to truly and fully give his heart again.

“I was just thinking that too, that I am luckiest girl in the world to have found a guy like you. I love you, Blaine.” she said in her sweet voice, her words felt good, made him warm inside, even though in his mind they echoed back fading into the voice of another …

A. N.: No unplanned pregnancies (aka “Cameron Curses”) have come into effect in this chapter.