Chapter 440) Libertines

“If you don’t get lost, there’s a chance you may never be found.”

–Unknown

Libertine, noun
a person who is unrestrained by convention or morality, specifically: one leading a dissolute life.

Newcrest
'Dark Mirrors' Bar

Scene: a casual ‘it’ bar with a mostly younger crowd, a young man on stage, his blonde hair falling past his shoulders, as he sits on a barstool wearing jeans and leather jacket, while strumming a pleasant rhythm on his guitar, accompanied by his buttery soft, equally pleasant singing voice, sounding throaty and personal in the microphone.

“Look outside, it’s already light and the stars
Ran away with the night
Things were said, words that we’ll try forget
It’s so hard to admit
I know we’ve made mistakes
I see through all the tears
And that’s what got us here
If love is an ocean wide
We’ll swim in the tears we cry
They’ll see us through to the other side
We’re gonna make it
When love is the raging sea
You can hold on to me
We’ll find a way tonight
Love is an ocean wide“

“I’ll stay right here, it’s where I’ll always belong
Tied with your arms
Days like this I wish the sun wouldn’t set
I don’t wanna forget
What made us feel this way
You see through all my fears
And that’s what got us here
If love is an ocean wide
We’ll swim in the tears we cry
They’ll see us through to the other side
We’re gonna make it.”

While the majority of the bar’s patrons currently wore glazed over looks on their faces and mushy smiles watching and listening to the young man’s mesmerizing, if simple, ad hoc performance on the tiny stage often used by patrons of the establishment to show off their talents, whenever he looked up, there was one pair of eyes, big doe eyes, dark as coals, that his bright blue ones met and locked into as if in an implied hug. She smiled a certain smile, as she knew she had his heart. She knew his song was about her, they always were, and sung to just her, the other people were just around to hear it too.

When the last chords of his guitar play echoed out, through the standing ovations, he bowed slightly, smiling, then exited the stage to go sit at the table right by the stage where she was waiting for him. A quick kiss, done in a way that that left no doubt that he was very much taken by the beauty at the table with the pale skin and long dark hair.

Keira had ordered both their favorite alcoholic beverages, he greedily grabbed his now, raised his glass slightly in an implied ‘cheers’ to her while she watched him, intensely.

Sipping on his drink, he set it back down and smiled an inquiring smile.

“What? Do I have a booze-stache or what is so interesting about me?”

“Just dwelling on how amazing you are, Connor. I don’t think the following words have ever been said before, but you missed your mark by becoming a doctor. You belong on stage. Wasting that voice of yours is a crime. Wish you’d sing more at home too, you used to back at the apartment. There, fangirling moment over.” Keira concluded.

She had always been the more serious, brooding type, ironic, as she used to be a cheerleader in high school.

Chuckling, he winked at her.

“Thanks, as much as I enjoy you fangirling me, my family has so many musicians already, every single one of them a million times better than anything I could conjure up, and the only reason I got up on that stage is because it scared me and I am all for facing fears head on, so they don’t fester into anxiety. And maybe a little so my girl could fangirl me, any man who says they don’t enjoy that is lying. But nah, music has to be a hobby for me. What we Camerons needed wasn’t yet another musician, but something solid, like a doctor, and if I may say so, I am a damn good one. Plus, if I had a true choice in careers, as in ANYTHING …” he made a dramatic pause to sigh, which she used to finish his sentence.

“.. yeah yeah yeah, I know, pro-football. I stand by my statement. Even if you were in all the halls of fames of the world for any sport imaginable, your talent for music would still be wasted. I am the one of us with the Fine Arts degree, so you will have to take my word for it. I may specialize in painting, drawing and sketching, but art is art is art is art. I know talent when I see or hear it. And I heard it, as did the rest of the bar. Anyone with ears can tell you that you are wasting a talent, Con-Bear. That voice of yours should be heard by more than just some bar full of people or our family at parties – if Blaine or your dad aren’t hogging the mics.” she told him.

“Well, thanks for the verbal flowers, but for better or worse, I spend my days patching people back together or bringing new ones into this world, and my nights with you, or vice versa, depending on my shifts at the hospital, but that voice of mine, as you put it, is all yours … and the shower walls’. And good as a party gag, too, as you pointed out.” he winked at her.

Keira leaned in to Connor.

“Dance with me.”

“KeKe, this is a bar, not the kind of place where people dance. Nobody else is dancing. We’d look like fools.” he told her while gesturing around them at people standing and sitting, but not moving to the canned music that was now playing again.

“Who cares? Live a little, Con-Bear, risk a little. Unless of course, you are too afraid. I am not, so I’ll just go dance by myself …” she got up and started to walk off, turning half back to him, while smiling a daring smile his way.

He emptied his drink quickly, then followed Keira, smiling and shaking his head.

She had just started to move her hips in a very seductive, smooth way, when he snaked his arm around her waist, possessively pulling her body hard against his, then started swaying with her.

They danced for a while, when he looked up, other couples had started to join them.
He chuckled. So typical Keira. Whatever you would call this, she had always done it. Always.

“What? Accidentally having fun now? Don’t let anyone see!” she whispered near his ear, teasing.

“I am having fun. I always do with you. This is so you. You literally make me wanna dance like nobody is watching, now and always, you always have pushed me out of my comfort zones. To be honest, I was afraid you might lose that after being turned, but evidently not.” he whispered back.

“Nope, still the same old Keira, just like I always told everyone I would be. I always thought it was important to keep one’s boundaries flexible, comfort zones can quickly turn into invisible prisons, I almost said life is short, but thanks to you, that’s been fixed for me – at long last. I keep forgetting to thank you again, cos a nice side-effect of my turn is that I have never spend this much time with my grandpa Riordan, not since I was a toddler. He is not even trying to hide his relief that I am no longer mortal. He and I had so much fun when he was training me … and we talked sooo much. It’s like I got my long-lost grandpa back – and he is seriously such a great guy. He just has deep-rooted inhibitions to letting himself get close to anyone who’s mortal, including his grandkids, my cousins. Poor guy, he is super-traumatized by something that happened over a century ago now, almost two. When we have a daughter, I want to name her Anastasia, after the woman he once loved so much, his soulmate.” Keira told him, causing Connor to push his upper body a little away from her to look at her.

“Hey – slow your horses, woman! We’re not even married yet, and here you go naming kids we haven’t even conceived yet and which neither of us is even sure we ever want to conceive. Please don’t tell me you got infected with that baby fever going around. KeKe, we’re only 23 years old, we have a literal eternity ahead of us, and I am not ready for kids, not for a very long time, and no offense, but neither are you.” Connor told her, his expression serious.

“Seriously chill, Con-Bear, we’re both lightyears away from wanting kids, duh! You know I am planner, just planning ahead. One day we WILL get married, and we probably WILL have a child together, or maybe we won’t, but if, then I would like the name Anastasia to be considered for a girl. I will admit though, that part of me is kinda curious about what you and I would produce if we were to procreate, your genes are incredible to me. Imagine a baby with your blue eyes and my dark hair. A regular Snow-white type. The only thing for certain now is that he or she would be vampire, which I actually prefer, especially after all the talks I had with grandpa. I always knew I wanted to be one, even though hearing the vampires in my family talk about vampire superiority sounded dumb to me before I became one myself, but honestly, I am gonna have to agree now. I definitely feel like an upgraded version of myself, like Keira 2.0 Plus. I will never be able to comprehend why you even considered getting unturned. Not me, not ever, not in a million years!” Keira’s enthusiasm caused her to speak faster and faster, counteracted by Connor’s calm response.

“Keira, I am thrilled to know that you are planning so far ahead into the future, relieved and flattered that it all has me in it, but having a kid shouldn’t ever be a science experiment, just to see what our genes do. And honestly, the scientist in me can probably guess. My blue eyes are a recessive trait, I have them because almost all my parents and grandparents and their ancestors have or had light-colored eyes, so for me it was always only between light blue or light green, but your black-brown color is much more dominant so …”

Keira sealed his lips with a kiss, the kind that made a man forget his own name. Her way of unmistakably signaling him that she was done with this conversation.

It worked on Connor too, he lost interest in the uncomfortable topic, instead began kissing her back, before they knew it, they were no longer moving but instead intensely making out right there in the middle of the bar for all to observe.

When the heat-of-the-moment kissing ended, he grabbed her by the hand, dragging a giggling Keira with him towards the door, outside into the snowy cold late afternoon, both of them vampires, so the chilling temperature didn’t affect them at all, as they rushed down the street, in the opposite direction of their home. Keira went right along, never even questioned it for a moment.

A little further down the street they came upon a gate, Connor redirected them through it, then finally stopped near some bushes, where he turned and resumed the making out.

“Oh my God, Connor – stop! This is a cemetery!” Keira laughed when he started trailing tiny kissed down her face and neck.

“So? We’re vampires, isn’t that what mortals think of us anyway? Drink blood, turn into bats, have wild orgies on cemeteries … and someone told me tonight to just live a little, risk a little. Let’s be deviants. I’ve been called a freak all my life, so let’s feed into the weird ideas mortals have of us …” he responded, his voice husky.

Giggling she gave in to him as a wave of passion washed over them while the daylight faded, and snow began falling on the two lovers.

Newcrest
Connor & Keira's Home
The following morning

The dark-haired man with the longer hair, falling shaggy to his shoulders burst into loud and infectious laughter.

“Dad … come on now!” a younger version of him, clearly his son, bemoaned.

“Nah, sorry can’t do, this is gold. Like father, like son. Oh Chase, I remember well the time when teenaged you shit them breeches cos you and Hailey got busy at the park and some paparazzi put your literal nekkid butt on the front pages. HAHAHA, what a proud moment in any father’s life, years after not having to change your diaper anymore I got treated to life-sized pics of Lefty and Righty in the news headlines with my morning coffee. Now here we go again, decades later, with the same trick courtesy of the fruit of your loins, except the cops found him and Keira first, but of course the trusty old paparazzi weren’t far behind and got there just in time to take Connor’s full moon picture before the po-po hauled him and Keira off for a night booked at hotel Slammer. I really wanna see your mug shot though, oh horny grandson of mine. Would it be your face or your ass now, since the latter was the offending part. Either way, great job, Doctor Connor. Liam had a LOT of choice words for you, for making him try to clean that up again. Something about us confusing him with a magician. Let him vent, he actually is a magician with the legal crap, so don’t worry, he’ll get it expunged or the record sealed and all the news stories and pictures taken down in no time, he had to do it so many times before. But DAYUM, kid, fuckin’ in a cemetery? That’s rogue, man, I tip my hat to ya. I thought your grandmother and I were the kinkiest fuckers near or far, but I gotta hand my kinky card to you now, kid! Letty and I never rocked them bones out of the ground before. HAHAHAHA!”

Connor blushed and hung his head, humiliated and guilty, while his dad Chase rubbed his back encouragingly, while Hailey, who was standing next to the couch Chase and Connor were sitting on, spoke up.

“Are you done now, Blaine? My poor boy! Poor Keira is crying upstairs, inconsolable, so embarrassed. Colton and Maddie just can’t get her calmed down. That poor girl! They’re both young, they got a little carried away, it should have never become such a big deal. The only reason it happened is because of you and Chase and Colton being so famous, and now the kids have to pay for it. Stupid paparazzi always. And those cops, seriously? As if nobody ever screwed al fresco before! They didn’t hurt anyone with a little open-air love! I bet those cops went home and nailed their partners on their conservative little balconies, after removing the sticks from their asses!” she ranted, in full Mama Bear mode. Being a vampire as well, thus no longer aging, she was still the same beautiful young woman she had been when she got turned, now frozen forever in time, with the same brilliant blue eyes framed by the same warm blonde hair as Connor. Nobody had to point out she was his mother; it couldn’t be more obvious.

Amused by her outburst, Blaine wiggled his eyebrows.

“Oh no, I am not done, not for a LOOOOONG time, this is warm-up Hailz, just getting started. You think if Caleb were here it would be any less painful? He’d line them both up and lecture them till their ears were bleeding. Lucky for Con-Bear and Keke are Caleb the Great, Riordan the Righteous and Caelan the Creep busy, so I got tasked with lecturing them. So, consider this my lecture, and I am not even bothering Keira and her meltdown over nothing. And Connor, for you I have these words of wisdom: he, who boinks in boneyards can take a little joke or a hundred, am I right, you free range stud? If you want to be a Libertine like me, you need a thicker skin, kiddo!” laughing Blaine watched the young man squirm, when his mom interfered again.

“Blaine, enough now! Why don’t you go upstairs into Connor and Keira’s bathroom and find some condom packages to build pyramids with?! I know these two are very responsible, so there should be plenty for you to play with.” she said, playing into a prank Blaine had once pulled on teenage versions of Hailey and Chase when they first had started dating.

“Very tempting, but nah Hailz, appreciate the offer, however this here overgrown man-toddler before you is more into rattling things at the moment. Like … your son, the necromancer’s, cage.” he burst into laughter.

“It’s really not funny grandpa. Keira and I screwed up in a big way, she got fired because of it, and I am on unpaid leave. Not good. Dammit!”

“So? She hated that job anyway. And you kept whining about being overworked and underpaid and needing a vacation. So, take your girlfriend and go on a vacation till the hospital bosses realize you’re the best they got and come begging you to return to work. We both know that is EXACTLY how that will go down, so enjoy it while you can. And Connor, don’t even go there, you know you have money if you want it. Between your parents and me, you won’t go without.” Blaine said unimpressed.

“Fiancée, grandpa. Keira and I have been engaged for several years now. And yes, I know you all would help us in any way, including financially, which we both appreciate, but it would defeat the purpose: we are trying to make it on our own without our wealthy families’ deep pockets. For that, we kinda need money – and our jobs.” Connor explained.

“Oh, I beg your pardon, you little independent snotnose. Fiancée then. So, when’s the wedding? Oh wait, that’s right, you have been engaged since the dinosaurs still roamed, but nothing else, not even set a date for any weddings, no dresses, no locations, NADA! Some people aren’t even married as long as you two have been engaged now. Just like Nick and Adrianna. 10 years till they finally tied that damn knot. I mean, what the fuzziest of fucks is any of that good for? Get engaged when you are serious about starting the countdown to put on that ball and chain, not decades before. Vampire or not, that’s just stupid, like wrapping pipe cleaners around a limp dick, sure, you can get it up that way, but still nothing productive is gonna happen. Pretty pointless, just like your engagement when you haven’t even as much as seriously thought about any nuptials.” Blaine countered in his very Blaine way.

“Ooof, grandpa. I am not in the mood for Blaineisms right now. An engagement is a promise, not a countdown.” Connor defended himself weakly.

“Well, toughen up kid, cos another Blainism is coming your way. Connor, I promise you if you kick me in the balls I will punch your lights out, but you don’t see me giving you a ring for that. A promise will always suffice until you are close to ready to take the plunge, unless you are the type of person whose promises are no good, in which case nobody should be marrying you anyway.” Blaine explained, making everyone present frown at his logic and way to look at things.

“Seriously, dad, can you just lay off Connor for a hot second? I get it, Caleb asked you to set them both straight because he is our fearless leader and has to put the disclaimer on unacceptable behavior, I REALLY get that, consider that message well received now. Connor’s not like you, dad, he doesn’t rub dirt on things like this and walk them off, like you could. He is very humiliated right now. Just give him a break, will ya?” Chase’s protective Papa Bear side came out.

“Break from what, son? He’s already on a break, from work. His future wifey is off permanently, I get that they are both wallowing in their bruised egos and cracked pride, which won’t get them anywhere, so tell them to pack those bags and go somewhere fun. Maybe they’ll come back with a plan. God knows they need one. As proud as we all are of our two little geniuses, they are stuck in a rut. Maybe they needed this to kick the tires free again. Keira was working for a man she hated and by the sounds of it, if she were my daughter, I would have paid that fool a visit long ago, and Connor is patching mortals back together, which is hella impressive, but also dumb as fuck, when we all know that is not his true calling. So round and round they go in the hamster wheel from hell. Something had to give, evidently that was a cop giving them a ticket for fucking among tombstones. Got the new chapter started, so let’s make it count.”

“Rut? New chapter? Fun? Vacation? What are you talking about, grandpa? Keira and I are still building our lives, there is no time for any ruts yet, and what is fun about us getting busted by police in the middle of screwing on a cemetery, only to have to plastered all over the news? Please explain how you listen to that and think: let’s book a fun trip?! I mean, no offense, nobody expects bursts of brilliance from you, but even by your standards all I can say here is WTH?” Connor ranted, which impressed Blaine little, if at all.

“Oh, holy fuckshake, kid, I thought you are the genius of the family! Yes, a vacation is EXACTLY what you and Keira need now, to clear the cobwebs from your heads and get clarity. You’re athletic, you like sports, so go fucking skiing in Mount Komorebi! Or fuck WHILE skiing for all I care if you need that special kick. Not like you two could break your necks. And even if, it’ll self-heal in no time, Doctor Cameron! Or, take your girl for a real good time to Selvadorada. Ask your parents how much fun that is. Just don’t sticking any body parts into any statues. Your dad did that and ended up extra-crispy.” laughed Blaine.

Hailey shot a quick look at her husband, but he seemed okay. The last time they, Colton and Maddie had taken a fun trip to Selvadorada it had been cut short, for Chase’s beloved great-uncle Declan had surprisingly died. They had always planned to go back, but something had always come up and they never made it.

Chase smiled and nodded now.

“Not the worst idea you ever had, dad. I actually agree with your grandpa there, Connor. Selvadorada will take your mind off things for sure. There is just too much going on all the time, good and bad, demanding your attention and drawing your focus away from problems. Plus, the scenery is worth mentioning and those people there like to dance. All that could be curative and when you get back, the dust your little nookie-stunt kicked up will have settled. I think it could be good for both of you.” Chase looked over at Hailey, who nodded in agreement.

Blaine shrugged, then said

“There you have it. Like a broken clock is right at least twice a day, so am I. Go take a trip, have some adventures. Everything else will fall into place, or it’s gonna force you to recalibrate your life. It’s a Cameron tradition, many of our ancestors had to do that, which is how we got where we got. Judging by the size of our family tree, a healthy portion of their perceived fixes for bad situations seemed to have involved fucking, you and Keira clearly already got do that part down, a little more practice can’t hurt, but a word of wisdom: take mosquito nets with you or Keira won’t be the only one nibbling on your boy parts. I speak from experience when I tell you, those damn things don’t give a shit that we’re vampires, and itchy crotch is never a good look, nor is trying to explain it’s not an STD but skeeter bites from when you were fuckin’ out in the jungle. Also not good as part of an acceptance speech for awards. Ask me how I know. ” Blaine chuckled, and nobody dared to ask how much of this was joke and what was actual experience. Knowing him, anything was possible.

“Dad, for all that is holy, please stop talking. My brain and ears are bleeding, and I am sure Patches is over hearing about our adult son’s naked butt and sexual escapades on a cemetery now too. And literally NOBODY here present wants to hear about your crotch.” Chase said, snickering.

“Now you sound just like your mother. Just having fun. Connor and Keira are both strong-minded. They’ll be fine, no doubt in my mind. And if you think I am bad, what do you think his colleagues will say when he eventually goes back to work. I get all the dirt about the behind-the-scenes stuff from Rohan. Trust me, hospital staff can be dicks amongst each other. So, travel while you can. I will take your mind of this mess and broaden your horizons. I would know.”

Connor looked up at his dad, mom and grandpa, then his face lit up a little, even a little smile curled the corners of his lips, as he nodded.

“You know, the more I think about it, the more I am starting to like grandpa’s idea. That’s what we’ll do. Off to the jungle, and when we come back, Keira and I will have more clarity and hopefully a plan. Thank you guys, for being so understanding and supportive, despite of … you know, it not being very savory news.”

Chuckling, Blaine said

“Ah no worries. Not sure how your grandmother is gonna feel when she finds my newly created hall of news clippings of various famed Cameron asses in our upstairs hallway, so I better get back before she’ll spank my ass so red that I’ll look like a baboon. Even though it’s not MY fault that so many in our family get their nekkid rears photographed and featured in the media. Maybe it’s another family tradition. Camerons are famous asses, literally. Hehehehehe.”

“Did you ever end up with your butt in the news, dad?”

“Nah, never did that, but I ended up as gossip fodder at 14, when a girl I never slept with got pregnant and said it was mine. Obviously, I am not the second coming of Christ, so immaculate conceptions aren’t on my list of skills, and way later it turned out she had been preggers all along, but the damage was done, nonetheless. I was fucking mess, it cut my larger-than-life ego down to size for the time being, so your grandparents, ole Rett and Maeve sent me into temporary exile to live with relatives in Windenburg until all that would blow over, which turned out to be a blessing, cos I was still there when I was 15 and that is when and where I met Scarlett, which proves my point: sometimes the road to level up isn’t paved with ponies and rainbows – which would be seriously creepy anyway if you think about it – but sometimes a real strong whack in the back of the head is whatcha need to see clearly again.”

***

Author’s Note:
You can re-read the past chapters being referring to:

Teenaged Chase’s rear end making front page headlines:
Chapter 218) No But(t) About It

Chase getting crispy in Selvadorada:
Chapter 226) Immortal Memories

Blaine’s (in)famous condom pyramid:
Chapter 211) All The World

14-year-old Blaine’s (alleged) immaculate conception pregnancy drama and subsequent chapters where he met Scarlett:
Chapter 94) Turning Point
Chapter 96) The Divergents
Chapter 97) Light In The Darkness
Chapter 98) Prom